incrément

Forms

incrément m (plural incréments)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin incrēmentum (“growth, increase”), from incrēscō (“to grow, increase”), formed from in- and crēscō (“to grow”).^[2][3][4][5] The DHLF treats the form of 1529 as a remodelling of the form encrement (1445).^[3]

The mathematical sense was taken again from English increment, recorded in this sense from 1721, and modelled as well on the Latin word as Newton used it in 1687.^[2][3][4][6] The computing sense of the 1970s is a further borrowing from English.^[3] The verb croître goes back to the same Latin verb.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Michel d'Amboise used it in 1529 in the Latin sense “increase, growth”.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “growth, development” went out of use, surviving only as a rare literary word.^[3][4] Ambroise Paré used it for the increase, or worsening, of a disease.^[7] In 1738 Voltaire used it in mathematics for an infinitely small increase of a variable, a sense taken from English as well as Newton's Latin; it was later replaced by différentielle or accroissement arbitraire.^[2][3][4] Littré records it as an old term of the calculus of fluxions.^[7]

In the 20th century it was taken up again from English in the sciences, for the smallest increase of a variable that takes discrete values,^[6][4] and in computing (1974) for the amount by which a variable grows at each step of a program.^[2][3] About 1970 it produced, after English models, the adjective incrémental and the verb incrémenter, whence incrémentation.^[3]

Timeline

• 1445 – The form encrement is recorded.^[3]
• 1529 – Incrément “increase” appears in Michel d'Amboise.^[2][3]
• 1687 – Newton uses Latin incrementum in the Principia.^[2][3]
• 1721 – English increment is recorded in mathematics.^[2][3]
• 1738 – Voltaire uses incrément in mathematics.^[2][3]
• c. 1970 – The derivatives incrémental and incrémenter appear.^[3]
• 1974 – The computing sense is recorded in the Journal officiel.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (sciences) The smallest increase of a variable that takes discrete values.^[6][4]
2. (computing) The amount added to a variable at each pass through a program loop: un incrément de deux.^[6][8][2]
3. (mathematics, dated) An infinitely small increase of a variable, now called a différentielle.^[2][4][7]
4. (literary, dated) Growth, development.^[2][4]

Word family

• incrémenter
• incrémental
• incrémentation

Related words

• décrément
• croître
• accroissement
• Latin incrēmentum
• English increment

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 630b
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)