Etymologically
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lampe

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 13:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /lɑ̃p/[1]

Forms

lampe f (plural lampes)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin lampada (“torch, lamp”), a Greek-type accusative taken as a feminine nominative, of Latin lampas (“torch”),[2][3][4][5][6] borrowed from Ancient Greek λαμπάς (lampás, “torch; torch race; later, lamp”),[2][3][1] a derivative of λάμπω (lámpō, “to shine”).[3][7][8] Rey compares Old Irish lassaim (“I blaze”) and Latvian lāpa (“torch”).[3] λαμπτήρ (lamptḗr, “lantern”), from the same verb, was borrowed into Latin as lanterna (see lanterne).[8]

Cognate with Romanian lampă, Italian lampada, Spanish lámpara, Portuguese alâmpada and Breton lamp.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) has it for a vessel holding a combustible liquid that gives light.[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Furetière (1690) records a lamp whose flame is used for heat, as in enamelling.[2][3] Lampe électrique is found before 1870 (Jules Verne) and in dictionaries in 1890; the word then named many kinds of lamp: à huile, à pétrole, lampe-tempête, lampe de poche (1907).[3][2][10] In 1923 it named a vacuum tube, a sense still alive though the device has mostly been replaced by transistors.[2][3]

In drinkers' slang it meant the stomach (1683), whence s'en mettre, s'en foutre plein la lampe “to stuff oneself” (1915), probably influenced by the verb lamper.[2][8] In African French a tall-chimneyed paraffin lamp is a lampe Aladin.[3]

Timeline

  • 1119 – An oil lamp, Philippe de Thaon.[2]
  • Mid-16th century – Lampe du tabernacle, Ronsard.[10]
  • 1683 – “Stomach”, drinkers' slang.[2]
  • 1690 – A heating lamp, Furetière.[2]
  • 1835 – The derivative lampiste.[4]
  • 1890 – Lampe électrique in the dictionaries.[2]
  • 1915 – S'en foutre plein la lampe.[2]
  • 1923 – A radio valve.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A lamp burning a liquid or gas fuel: lampe à huile, lampe à pétrole, lampe-tempête, hurricane lamp.[8][1]
  2. An electric light, a lamp; a light bulb: lampe de soixante watts, lampe de poche, torch, flashlight[8][1]
  3. A heating appliance with a flame: lampe à souder, blowlamp.[2][1]
  4. (dated) A radio valve, vacuum tube.[2][3]
  5. (familiar) S'en mettre plein la lampe: to eat and drink one's fill.[8][1]

Word family

  • lampe-tempête
  • lampiste
  • lanterne
  • lampadaire
  • lampion
  • lampant

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 143b
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse