liquéfier

Forms

liquéfier^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin liquefaciō (“to melt, make liquid”), with the ending adapted to the many French verbs in -fier.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from liqueō (“to be liquid”) and faciō (“to make”).^[6][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi first finds it in the 14th century, in the falconry treatise Ghatrif, meaning “to make (a solid) liquid”.^[2] The GLLF and the Grand Robert date it 1398, as a past participle, in the Somme Maître Gautier.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to turn a solid into a liquid” has gradually given way to fondre.^[6] Paré wrote of gums to be liquefiées avecques l'eau de vie “dissolved in brandy”,^[7] and the infinitive and the pronominal form are recorded by Furetière in 1690.^[5] A figurative use in mystical language, found in 1656, is now jocular.^[6]

The sense “to turn a gas into a liquid” is first recorded in Cournot in 1851 and is now the usual one.^[2][6] The pronominal se liquéfier is commoner in the figurative sense “to lose all energy” (1694, Bossuet, then without the familiar tone it now has), especially of someone sweating in the sun.^[6][5][8]

The derivative liquéfiable is recorded once as liquifiable in 1563 and was taken up again about 1840 in physics;^[2][6] liquéfaction (1314, liquefacion) was borrowed from Medieval Latin.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 14th century – First record, in the Ghatrif.^[2]
• 1398 – The past participle appears in the Somme Maître Gautier.^[5][4]
• 1563 – Palissy uses liquifiable.^[2]
• 1656 – A figurative use in mystical language.^[6]
• 1690 – Furetière records the infinitive and se liquéfier.^[5]
• 1694 – Bossuet uses se liquéfier figuratively.^[6][5]
• 1851 – Cournot uses it of liquefying a gas.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To turn a solid into a liquid, to melt; a synonym of fondre.^[2][8][7]
2. (physics) To turn a gas into a liquid, to liquefy: gaz de pétrole liquéfié.^[8][2][5]
3. se liquéfier: to become liquid.^[2][7]
4. (figurative, familiar) se liquéfier: to lose all energy or moral resistance.^[8][6]

Word family

• liquéfiable

Related words

• liquéfaction
• liquide
• liqueur
• Latin liquefaciō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert