jonction

Forms

jonction f (plural jonctions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin iūnctiō (“union, connection, cohesion”),^[2][3][4][1] a noun derived from iūnctum, the supine of iungō (“to join”),^[3][5] with the influence of joindre.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg note that it was borrowed to serve as the action noun of the verb.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1245 in Huon de Cambrai's Regrés Nostre Dame, meaning a marital or carnal union,^[2][3] a sense found only in Old and Middle French.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From 1477 it served as the noun of joindre, “the act of joining one thing to another”: the first example is the joining of Artois to the Crown.^[2][3] From 1581 it was used of people coming together, and in military language of troops joining up (before 1664).^[2][3] In 1690 Furetière recorded the legal jonction, a court's decision to hear two closely linked cases together.^[2][3]

In the 19th century it came to mean the point where two routes meet, roads, railways or rivers (Boiste, 1819 or 1829).^[2][7][3] Later technical uses include the connection between two electrical conductors and, in electronics, the zone between two regions of a semiconductor crystal.^[4][8]

Timeline

• c. 1245 – Huon de Cambrai uses it of carnal union.^[2]
• 1477 – It means the joining of one thing to another.^[2][3]
• 1581 – It is used of people meeting up.^[2]
• before 1664 – Perrot d'Ablancourt writes of the jonction des ennemis.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the legal jonction de procès.^[2][4]
• 1819 – Boiste records the sense “meeting point of two routes”.^[2]
• 1931 – Gare de jonction is recorded by Larousse.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of joining one thing to another, or the state of being joined, a junction: point de jonction.^[9][10][8]
2. The place where two things meet, as roads, railway lines or rivers: à la jonction des deux chemins.^[9][10][2]
3. The meeting of groups or troops: les deux colonnes ont fait leur jonction.^[9][8][11]
4. (law) Jonction des causes or jonction d'instance: a court's decision to hear two linked cases together.^[9][2][11]
5. (electricity) A connection between two conductors.^[8][4]
6. (electronics) The transition zone between two regions of a semiconductor crystal.^[8]

Related words

• joindre
• joint
• jointure
• Latin iungō

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 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. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette