inséparable

Forms

inséparable (plural inséparables)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin īnsēparābilis (“inseparable, indivisible”),^[2][3][4] formed from in- (“not”) and sēparābilis (“separable”), which comes from sēparō (“to separate”), itself from sē- (“apart”) and parō (“to arrange”).^[4] Rey notes that it was taken over with an eye to séparer, since séparable was not yet in use in French.^[5]

Cognate with Old Occitan inseparable, Spanish inseparable and Italian inseparabile.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first meant “indissoluble”, of a marriage, about 1282 in Gauchi's translation of the Gouvernement des princes;^[4][5] the TLFi's first record is a later manuscript of the same translation (1444): les mariages doivent estre inseparables “marriages must be indissoluble”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the marriage bond the word was extended to anything that cannot be separated from something else, in the concrete or the abstract (1545, Bonivard),^[2][4][5] and in grammar to elements of language that occur only in compounds (1607, Maupas), such as the prefixes in- and dé-.^[2][5][6] In 1656 Pascal applies it to people who never leave each other,^[2][5] whence the noun un inséparable (1680), above all in the plural des inséparables (1690).^[5]

By 1867 the plural inséparables named small parrots that were believed to live in cages only in pairs, the lovebirds.^[2][5][6] The adverb inséparablement is recorded from about 1398.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1282 – Gauchi uses it of an indissoluble marriage.^[4][5]
• c. 1398 – The adverb inséparablement appears.^[2]
• 1545 – Bonivard uses it for things that cannot be separated.^[2][4]
• 1607 – Maupas applies it to grammatical elements.^[2][4]
• 1656 – Pascal uses it of people.^[2][5]
• 1680 – First use as a noun.^[5]
• 1867 – Littré records inséparables for a kind of small parrot.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That cannot be separated or considered apart from something else, inseparable: la cause est inséparable de l'effet.^[7][2]
2. (of people) Always together: deux sœurs inséparables.^[7][2]
3. (grammar) Of a particle or prefix: used only in compounds.^[6][2]

Noun

1. An inseparable companion, a person who is always with another.^[7][5]
2. (in the plural) Lovebirds, small parrots kept in pairs.^[2][1][6]

Word family

• inséparablement

Related words

• séparable
• séparer
• Latin īnsēparābilis

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 o p 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. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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 k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert