isoler

Forms

isoler^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French isolé with the verb ending -er.^[2][3][4][1] The participle (1575), at first a term of architecture, is taken from Italian isolato (“built as an island, separated”), the past participle of isolare (“to make like an island”), from isola (“island”), from Latin īnsula.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg note that the Italian verb, like the French one, seems later than the participle.^[3] Littré points to Latin īnsulātus (“separated like an island”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Saint-Amant's Moyse sauvé (1653) uses it of a branch of the Nile that makes a meadow into an island.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Furetière (1690) records it in architecture, of a building standing free of any other, and so in the general sense “to separate from what surrounds”.^[2][6] S'isoler, to withdraw from other people, is found before 1697 in Madame de Sévigné and precedes the transitive use in this sense.^[2][6] In the 18th century the verb entered physics, for keeping a body out of contact with conductors of electricity, and Rousseau used it (1761) for considering a thing apart from its context.^[2][6][7]

Chemistry took it up for separating a substance from its compounds (1821), and medicine for a contagious patient (1824).^[2][6] Around 1950 isoler une pièce came to mean soundproofing a room with insulating materials.^[6][7] Littré (1867) records langues isolantes in linguistics.^[2]

Timeline

• 1575 – The participle isolé appears.^[2][3]
• 1653 – Saint-Amant uses isoler for making a meadow into an island.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the architectural sense.^[2]
• before 1697 – Madame de Sévigné uses s'isoler.^[2][6]
• 1758 – Paulian's dictionary of physics records the electrical sense.^[2]
• 1761 – Rousseau uses it for considering a thing out of context.^[2]
• 1789 – First record of isolant.^[2]
• 1821 – First used in chemistry.^[2]
• 1824 – Used of isolating a contagious patient.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To separate something from the things around it, to cut it off.^[7][8]
2. (transitive) To insulate, to protect with an insulating material, against electricity, heat or noise.^[7][8][1]
3. (transitive, sciences) To obtain a substance free of its compounds, or to separate a microbe or virus for study.^[7][8]
4. (transitive) To keep a person away from others: to isolate a contagious patient or a prisoner.^[7][8]
5. (transitive, figurative) To consider a thing apart, out of its context.^[7][8]
6. (pronominal) S'isoler: to withdraw from other people.^[8][2]

Word family

• isolant
• isolation
• isolement
• isolateur
• isoloir

Related words

• isolé
• île
• Latin īnsula

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 q 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)