hélice

Forms

hélice f (plural hélices)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin helix (“spiral, volute”), a learned borrowing,^[2][3][4] which is from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “spiral”), a word also used of any spiral object such as a shell, the rim of the ear or the volute of a column.^[3][5][1] Rey connects the Greek word with an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to roll”), also seen in English wheel.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Jean Martin's translation of Vitruvius (1547), as an architectural term for a volute of the Corinthian capital.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

From architecture the word passed to the screw shape of a staircase, escalier en hélice (1690, Furetière).^[2][3] In 1684 Furetière also records it in geometry, for the curve wound round a cylinder, and in anatomy, where it was later replaced by hélix.^[2][3] As a geometric term it stayed learned and competed with spirale.^[3]

It entered everyday language through engineering: in 1803 hélice à vapeur named a propelling device whose blades are sections of a helix, used for ships and later for aircraft, from the early 20th century.^[2][3][5] The spread of jet aircraft made the word less frequent in that context.^[3] In biochemistry it names the spiral shape of proteins, as in la double hélice of DNA.^[7]

Timeline

• 1547 – Jean Martin's translation of Vitruvius uses it for a volute of the Corinthian capital.^[2]
• 1684 – Furetière records it in geometry and anatomy.^[2][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records escalier en hélice.^[2][3]
• 1803 – Hélice à vapeur names a propelling device.^[2][3]
• 1871 – Hélice à pas variable appears in l'Aéronaute.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geometry) A helix, a curve winding round a cylinder and cutting its generatrices at a constant angle: en hélice, screw-shaped, as in escalier en hélice.^[2][7][8]
2. (architecture) A small volute of the Corinthian capital.^[7][8]
3. (biochemistry) The helical shape of a molecule: la double hélice.^[7][1]
4. A propeller driving a ship or an aircraft.^[7][3][1]

Related words

• hélicoïde
• hélicoïdal
• hélix
• hélicoptère
• spirale
• Latin helix
• Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette