Etymologically
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granit

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡʁa.nit/[1]

Forms

granit m (plural granits)[1] Granite (1665), kept as the scientific spelling[2][3]; granit was long pronounced without the final t, rhyming with nid in Hugo.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian granito, recorded in the modern sense from the late 15th century, the adjective “granito” “grainy” used as a noun,[3][2][4][5][6] properly the past participle of granire (“to form grains”), derived from grano (“grain”), from Latin grānum (“grain”), the source of grain.[3][2][5] The word thus means “grainy stone”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave (1611) has granit oriental for a kind of jasper, an isolated use;[3][2] the modern sense appears in Thévenot's Relation d'un voyage fait au Levant (1665), of a column tout d'une pièce de granite.[3]

Semantic evolution

In science granite is a hard igneous rock of feldspar, mica and quartz.[2][3] By likeness of look, granit named other grainy materials, such as speckled silk (1827) and a grainy fabric;[2][7] figuratively it stands for hardness and insensitivity, as in cœur de granit.[2][8]

Granitique, granitoïde and graniteux date from 1783, in Buffon's time.[2][4] The granité, a granular sorbet, is probably taken from Italian granita.[2]

Timeline

  • late 15th century – Italian granito.[3][2]
  • 1611 – Granit oriental, a kind of jasper (Cotgrave).[3][5]
  • 1665 – Granite (Thévenot).[3][4]
  • 1718 – First recorded by the Académie.[3]
  • 1783 – Granitique, granitoïde.[2]
  • 1827 – A speckled silk.[7]
  • 1840 – Graniter.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Granite, a hard grainy igneous rock of feldspar, quartz and mica.[8][1]
  2. (figurative, literary) A symbol of hardness: cœur de granit.[8][2]

Word family

  • granitique

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 238a
  7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert