inondation

Forms

inondation f (plural inondations)^[1] Old French inundacion, Middle French inundation;^[2][3] the Grand Robert and the GLLF date the spelling inondation to 1549, Robert Estienne.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin inundātiō (“flood, overflowing”),^[2][5][6] from the supine of inundō (“to flood”).^[3][4] It belongs with the verb inonder.^[5]

Compare Occitan inondacion and Italian inondazione.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1275 in Jean de Meun's part of the Roman de la Rose, in la grant inundacion, the Flood:^[2][5] people would save their lives “de la grant inundacion, cum fist jadis Deucalion” (“from the great flood, as Deucalion once did”).^[7]

Semantic evolution

The ordinary sense, an overflowing of waters over the land, is recorded in 1374.^[2][5] By analogy it became a medical term in 1559, for an effusion of fluid.^[2][5] Larivey used it figuratively in 1579 for a crowd of people pouring in,^[2] and Cardinal de Retz in 1656 for a mass of things, writing of “cette prodigieuse inondation de toute sorte de vices” (“this prodigious flood of every kind of vice”).^[2] From the end of the 19th century it is used for a massive influx of goods or products,^[5] and in the 20th century, as an exaggeration, for water spilled in quantity.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1275 – Jean de Meun writes la grant inundacion for the Flood.^[2]
• 1374 – A lease uses it for the overflowing of waters.^[2]
• 1559 – It is used in medicine.^[2]
• 1579 – Larivey uses it of people.^[2]
• 1656 – Retz uses it of things.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A flood: the overflowing of a river, lake or the sea over the land around it, and the waters that cover it.^[8][6][2]
2. The act of flooding an area, also on purpose.^[8][7]
3. (familiar) A large amount of water spilled in a room, from a leak or a mishap.^[8][6]
4. (figurative) A massive influx of people or things.^[6][2][1]

Related words

• inonder
• Latin inundātiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert