médial

Forms

médial (feminine médiale, masculine plural médiaux, feminine plural médiales)^[1]

Etymology

The TLFi treats it as from Latin medius (“middle”) with the suffix -al, a learned formation, and compares Medieval Latin mediālis (“median”), recorded about 1200.^[2][3][4] Littré and Wiktionary make it a direct borrowing of that Latin adjective, which the FEW gives as its etymon.^[5][1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Duclos used it in grammar, of what stands in the middle of a word: the GLLF dates this to 1754,^[4] the TLFi to the 1806 edition of his works.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The noun médiale, a letter in the middle of a word, is in Bescherelle in 1845.^[2] In phonetics consonne médiale long meant a consonant between two vowels, now called intervocalic.^[2][3] The adjective was also used more widely of what lies between two things, as Champollion's porte médiale (1829) of a portico;^[7] in music a ton médial lies between low and high.^[2] In statistics médiale names the value that divides a total into two equal halves (1963), not to be confused with the médiane.^[4][3]

Timeline

• 1754 – Duclos uses it of a letter in the middle of a word.^[4]
• 1806 – The edition of Duclos's works the TLFi cites.^[2]
• 1829 – Champollion writes of a porte médiale.^[7]
• 1845 – Bescherelle has the noun médiale.^[2][4]
• 1878 – The Académie dictionary includes it, with lettre médiale.^[2]
• 1963 – Larousse records the statistical sense.^[4][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (linguistics) Placed inside a word, between its beginning and end: syllabe médiale.^[8][2][5]
2. (dated, phonetics) Of a consonant, between two vowels; intervocalique.^[3][2]
3. Lying between two things; médian.^[2]
4. (music) Ton médial: a tone between the low and the high register.^[2]
5. (anatomy) Nearer than similar structures to the body's median plane, as opposed to latéral.^[3]

Noun

1. (linguistics) A letter or consonant in the middle of a word.^[2][5]
2. (statistics) The value that divides a total into two equal halves.^[2][8][4]

Related words

• médian
• médiane
• Latin medius

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 574b
7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)