hémisphère

Forms

hémisphère m (plural hémisphères)^[2] Earlier emispere (about 1320), then hemispere (1544); the spelling hémisphère is recorded in 1611.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin hemisphaerium (“half a sphere, dome”), from Ancient Greek ἡμισφαίριον (hēmisphaírion), formed of ἡμι- (hēmi-, “half”) and σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball, sphere”).^[3][6][7][4] Littré takes the second part as σφαιρίον (sphairíon), a diminutive of the latter.^[8] It was first written emispere; the etymological ⟨h⟩ came back in 1544, in Maurice Scève.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Ovide moralisé (about 1320) has emispere for half of the terrestrial globe.^[3][6] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF put the first record in the 13th century.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

From any half of the globe, the word came to mean, from the 17th century, each half of the earth bounded by the equator, and any half of a sphere cut by a plane through its centre;^[6][4] Furetière records both in 1690.^[6][4] Anatomy took it up for the halves of the brain (1776),^[3][6] and in the 19th century it named each half of the celestial sphere (Littré, 1866).^[6] The hémisphères de Magdebourg are the hollow half-spheres with which Otto von Guericke showed the pressure of the atmosphere in 1654.^[6][8]

The adjective hémisphérique is recorded from 1551.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1320 – Emispere appears in the Ovide moralisé.^[3][6]
• 1544 – Maurice Scève writes hemispere.^[3][6]
• 1551 – Oronce Finé uses hémisphérique.^[3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the spelling hémisphère.^[4][5]
• 1690 – Furetière records the halves of the globe and of a sphere.^[6][4]
• 1776 – Lieutaud uses it in anatomy.^[3][6]
• 1866 – Littré records the astronomical sense and the hémisphères de Magdebourg.^[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Each of the two halves of a sphere cut by a plane through its centre.^[1][8]
2. (geography) Half of the terrestrial globe, especially either half bounded by the equator: hémisphère nord, hémisphère sud.^[1][3]
3. (astronomy) Half of the celestial sphere.^[1][3]
4. (anatomy) Each half of the cerebrum: hémisphères cérébraux.^[1][3]
5. Hémisphères de Magdebourg: the Magdeburg hemispheres, used to show atmospheric pressure.^[8][4]

Word family

• hémisphérique

Related words

• sphère
• hémi-
• Latin hemisphaerium

References

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