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isolation

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Etymology and origin of the French word isolation

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1774 Beaumarchais, Quatrième Mémoire More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origins
Latin *isula,-areFrench -ation
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Italian isola
Italian isolare
Italian isolato
French isolé
French isoler
French isolation
From the same root
English isolate ← isolato
Romanian izolare ← isoler

Pronunciation

  • /i.zɔ.la.sjɔ̃/[1]

Forms

isolation f (plural isolations)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French isoler + -ation.[2][1][3][4] Rey adds that in several of its uses it may be an anglicism.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1774 in Beaumarchais's Quatrième Mémoire, for the state of a person without support or reduced to solitude.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In that first sense it went out of use, displaced by isolement.[5][6] It specialized as a term of physics in 1803, when Boiste defined it as the action of isolating bodies, especially conductors of electricity;[2][5][4] the GLLF cites an earlier record of 1765 for this sense.[6] At the beginning of the 20th century psychoanalysis used it for a defence mechanism of neurosis that cuts a behaviour off from the rest of a person's life.[5][1] In building and technology, by about 1958, it came to mean protection against heat, cold or noise, as in isolation thermique and isolation phonique.[5][7][6]

Timeline

  • 1774 – Beaumarchais uses it for a person's state of being alone and without support.[2][5]
  • 1803 – Boiste records it as a term of physics.[2][5]
  • Early 20th century – It becomes a term of psychoanalysis.[5]
  • 1959 – The Robert records it for protection against heat and noise.[6]
  • 1962 – Larousse records it for the insulating materials of an electrical device.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (physics) The insulation of an electrical conductor.[7][6][4]
  2. (technology) Protection of a room or building against heat, cold or noise: isolation thermique, isolation phonique.[7][6]
  3. The set of insulating materials in a machine, an electrical device or a building.[6]
  4. (psychoanalysis) A defence mechanism that isolates a behaviour from the rest of a person's life.[5][1]
  5. (dated) Isolation, the state of being alone.[6][2]

References

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

“Isolation.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/isolation. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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