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hyperbolique

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Etymology and origin of the French word hyperbolique

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1541 Calvin, Institution More words from the 16th century
Borrowed from
Latin hyperbolicus
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek ὑπερβολή
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin hyperbolicus
English hyperbolic
French hyperbolique

Pronunciation

  • /i.pɛʁ.bɔ.lik/[1]

Forms

hyperbolique (plural hyperboliques)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin hyperbolicus, from Ancient Greek ὑπερβολικός (huperbolikós, “excessive, extravagant”).[2][3][4][5] The Greek adjective is derived from ὑπερβολή (huperbolḗ), Latin hyperbolē, whence French hyperbole.[2][3][5] By surface analysis it is from French hyperbole + -ique.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1541 in Calvin's Institution, as a term of rhetoric for what is marked by hyperbole.[2][5][4] Littré quotes Calvin's meslinges hyperboliques, c'est-à-dire excessifs (“hyperbolic mixtures, that is to say excessive ones”).[6]

Semantic evolution

From rhetoric the adjective spread to anything excessive: Rabelais wrote hyperbolicque in the Tiers Livre (1546).[2][5] By 1690 it was also said, by metonymy, of an author or a person given to exaggeration.[5][4] Descartes spoke of a doute hyperbolique (1647), the methodical doubt pushed to its limit.[4][7]

A second series of senses came from geometry: after Descartes used hyperbole for the two-focus curve (1637), hyperbolique meant “relating to the hyperbola”, first in Huygens's correspondence (1646).[2][5] In modern mathematics it is used above all in fonctions hyperboliques, the hyperbolic sine, cosine and tangent.[5][7]

Timeline

  • 1541 – First record, in rhetoric, in Calvin's Institution.[2][4]
  • 1546 – Rabelais writes hyperbolicque in the Tiers Livre.[2]
  • 1561 – The adverb hyperboliquement is recorded.[2][5]
  • 1637 – Descartes uses the sense “shaped like a hyperbola”.[4]
  • 1646 – Huygens uses it in mathematics.[2][5]
  • 1647 – Descartes's doute hyperbolique.[4]
  • 1690 – Furetière records it of a person given to exaggeration.[4][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (rhetoric) Marked by hyperbole, expressed with exaggeration: des éloges hyperboliques.[7][2]
  2. Of a person or author: given to exaggeration.[6][4]
  3. (philosophy) Doute hyperbolique: Descartes's doubt pushed to its extreme.[7][4]
  4. (mathematics) Relating to the hyperbola: fonctions hyperboliques, trigonométrie hyperbolique.[7]
  5. Having the shape of a hyperbola or a hyperboloid.[7][6]

Word family

  • hyperboliquement

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Hyperbolique.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/hyperbolique. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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