halo

Forms

halo m (plural halos)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin halos, a transcription of Ancient Greek ἅλως (hálōs, “threshing floor”).^[2][3][4][5] The Greek word meant a threshing floor, then any round, level surface like one, and in particular the ring of light around the sun or moon;^[2][3][6] its origin is unknown.^[1] The TLFi cites Seneca for the Latin word.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded about 1360 for the ring of light sometimes seen around the sun or moon, the Greek word's last sense.^[4][3][2] Rabelais has it in Gargantua (1534).^[2]

Semantic evolution

By extension it came to mean a circular glow around any light source (1884, Huysmans: gas lamps blinking in a yellowish halo),^[2][3] and in particular the blurred ring around the image of a bright point in photography (1891), which gave antihalo (1907).^[2][3] Verlaine already used it in 1866 for a coloured ring surrounding an object, and Rodenbach in 1891 for a halo de bruit “halo of noise”.^[2]

From 1908 it is used figuratively for the radiance that seems to come from a person, like aura and rayonnement;^[2][3] the TLFi's first example is from Jules Romains, the DHLF's from Romain Rolland.^[2][3] In the 20th century it also took on scientific senses, such as the galactic halo in astronomy and the glaucomatous halo in ophthalmology.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1360 – First record, for the ring around the sun or moon.^[4][3]
• 1534 – Rabelais uses it in Gargantua.^[2]
• 1866 – Verlaine uses it for a coloured ring surrounding an object.^[2]
• 1884 – Huysmans uses it for the glow around gas lamps.^[2][3]
• 1891 – The photographic sense is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1907 – The derivative antihalo appears.^[3]
• 1908 – First figurative use, for a radiance surrounding a person.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (meteorology) A halo, a luminous ring around the moon or sun caused by the refraction of light in ice crystals in the air.^[7][2]
2. (astronomy) Halo galactique: the set of globular clusters surrounding a galaxy.^[7]
3. A diffuse ring of light around a light source: le halo des phares dans la brume.^[7][8][2]
4. (photography) A spread of light around the image of a bright point on a photograph.^[7][1]
5. (figurative) A radiance that seems to come from someone, an aura: un halo de gloire.^[7][8]
6. (obsolete, medicine) The small red ring around the nipple.^[5]

Word family

• antihalo

Related words

• auréole
• Latin halos

Usage notes

The Robert dictionaries mark the h as aspirated: there is no elision or liaison before it (le halo, les halos).^[9][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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. ^ 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert