incarnat

Forms

incarnat (feminine incarnate, masculine plural incarnats, feminine plural incarnates)^[1] The earliest form is incarnade (about 1515), remade as incarnat in 1528.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian incarnato (“flesh-coloured”), used as a colour adjective in Italian from the late 14th or early 15th century (Cennini), and formed from carne (“flesh”) on the model of the past participle of incarnare (“to incarnate”).^[2][3][4] The Italian word goes back to Latin carō (“flesh”).^[3][5] Littré derives the Italian adjective straight from the verb.^[6] Wiktionary calls it a doublet of incarné.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears as incarnade in an inventory of about 1515 describing a napkin worked in gold, grey-green, flesh colour, tan and blue; the form incarnat is recorded in 1528 in the inventory of the château of Taillebourg.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective names a bright colour between pink and red, recalling that of flesh; it is literary, and the noun (1562) for the colour itself is more common.^[3][2] Rabelais uses it of brazil-wood and of silk tassels, and Olivier de Serres of the roses incarnates from which rose-water is distilled.^[6]

From the end of the 16th century French also borrowed the diminutive incarnadin, first as incarnatin (1580), from Italian incarnatino and its dialect form incarnadino; it means a paler flesh colour.^[3][7]

Timeline

• c. 1515 – Incarnade is recorded in an inventory in the archives of the Nord.^[2]
• 1528 – The form incarnat appears in the inventory of the château of Taillebourg.^[2][4]
• 1532 – Rabelais uses incarnat.^[7][5]
• 1562 – First use as a noun for the colour.^[2][3]
• 1580 – The diminutive incarnatin is borrowed, later incarnadin.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a bright, light red between pink and red, like the colour of flesh.^[2][8]
2. Trèfle incarnat: crimson clover.^[2][8]

Noun

1. (literary) A bright pinkish red, the colour carnation, especially of the complexion.^[8][5][1]

Related words

• incarnadin
• incarner
• incarné
• carnation
• chair
• Italian incarnato
• Latin carō

References

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