hexagone

Forms

hexagone (plural hexagones)^[1] Middle French exagone.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin hexagōnum (“hexagon”) (also hexagōnus), from Ancient Greek ἑξάγωνος (hexágōnos, “six-angled”), whose neuter ἑξάγωνον (hexágōnon) was used as a noun.^[2][3][1] The Greek adjective is formed from ἕξ (héx, “six”) and γωνία (gōnía, “angle, corner”).^[3][4][5] Picoche lists it among the learned words of Greek origin in the family of six.^[6]

The name of France, l'Hexagone, comes from the shape of the country's map, which can be drawn inside a hexagon.^[7][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1377 as the adjective exagone “six-angled” in Oresme's Le livre du ciel et du monde.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The noun, naming a polygon with six sides, is recorded from 1651 in Pascal; by analogy it named a fortification of six bastions in 1690.^[3][4] As an adjective the word went out of use, replaced by its derivative hexagonal (1632).^[3][2]

In the 20th century l'Hexagone came to mean mainland France, from the shape of its map.^[3][7] The TLFi and the Petit Robert date this to 1934, in de Gaulle's Vers l'armée de métier;^[2][7] the GLLF dates it to about 1960.^[4][8] Hexagonal followed with the sense “of mainland France”, often ironic or pejorative.^[3]

Timeline

• 1377 – Oresme uses the adjective exagone.^[2][3]
• 1632 – The adjective hexagonal is recorded.^[3]
• 1651 – Pascal uses hexagone as a noun for the six-sided figure.^[4][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “fortification with six bastions”.^[4][3]
• 1934 – De Gaulle uses l'Hexagone for mainland France.^[2][3][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geometry) A hexagon, a polygon with six angles and six sides: un hexagone régulier.^[7][9][10]
2. L'Hexagone (usually capitalized): mainland France, as opposed to its overseas territories.^[7][9][11]
3. (fortification, historical) A work made up of six bastions.^[4][10]

Adjective

1. (dated) Hexagonal, six-angled; now replaced by hexagonal.^[2][4][3]

Word family

• hexagonal

Related words

• pentagone
• octogone
• polygone
• hexamètre
• Latin hexagōnum

Usage notes

For mainland France the word is written with a capital, l'Hexagone, as the Petit Robert and Larousse give it;^[7][9] Wiktionary lists hexagone in this sense as a spelling variant.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)