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gravitation

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Etymology and origin of the French word gravitation

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1717 Hartsoeker More words from the 18th century
Borrowed from
English gravitation
Ultimate origin
Latin gravitās
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English gravitation
French gravitation
From the same root
English gravitational ← gravitation

Pronunciation

  • /ɡʁa.vi.ta.sjɔ̃/[1]

Forms

gravitation f (plural gravitations)[1]

Etymology

According to the TLFi it is borrowed from English gravitation (about 1645), itself from New Latin gravitō (see graviter), and says that French translations of Newton's works spread it.[2] Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and the Petit Robert derive it straight from scientific Latin gravitātiō, which Bloch and Wartburg attribute to Newton;[3][4][5] Rey allows either source.[6]

The Latin word is a learned derivative of Latin gravitās (“weight, heaviness”), the source of gravité.[7][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1717 in Hartsoeker, in the physical sense of the force by which bodies are drawn towards one another; it then competed with gravité.[2][7][6] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF give 1722.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The theory of universal gravitation spread from the middle of the 18th century.[6] The word is also used figuratively of any attracting force.[2]

Although the concept was central to science from the 18th century, the word formed derivatives only recently: gravitationnel (1912), modelled on English gravitational, and the less common gravitatoire.[6][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1645 – The English word gravitation is recorded.[2][7]
  • 1717 – Hartsoeker uses gravitation.[2][6]
  • 1722 – The Journal des savants uses the word.[4]
  • 1734 – The verb graviter is first found, in Voltaire.[3]
  • 1912 – The adjective gravitationnel appears (champ gravitationnel).[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (physics, astronomy) The phenomenon by which any two bodies attract each other with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of their distance: la gravitation universelle.[5][2]
  2. (figurative) An attracting force, a pull towards something.[2]

Word family

  • gravitationnel

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
  3. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Gravitation.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/gravitation. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·