magma

Forms

magma m (plural magmas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin magma (“dregs of an ointment or perfume”), borrowed fairly late, in 1694, as a term of pharmacy.^[2][3][4] The Latin word is taken from Ancient Greek μάγμα (mágma, “kneaded mass, salve”),^[2][1] which belongs to the family of μάσσω (mássō, “to knead”).^[5][6] Rey connects this family with an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *mag-, also found behind macérer, masse¹ and maçon.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Thomas Corneille's dictionary of 1694 records it as a pharmacy term for the dregs or residue left from ointments.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

From pharmacy the word passed into chemistry, where from 1773 it named any thick, viscous or jelly-like mass, with the look of a gruel.^[2][3] In 1879 the geologists Fouqué and Michel Lévy used it for the molten mass that pours out in volcanic eruptions and solidifies into crystalline rock;^[2][6] this geological sense became the usual one.^[3] From it came the figurative sense of a confused mixture, first found in Pierre Loti in 1883.^[2][3]

The adjective magmatique followed in 1899 and magmatisme about 1960.^[3]

Timeline

• 1694 – Thomas Corneille records magma as a pharmacy term.^[2][6]
• 1773 – Parmentier uses it in chemistry for a thick, viscous mass.^[2][6]
• 1879 – Fouqué and Michel Lévy give it its geological sense.^[2][6]
• 1883 – Loti uses it figuratively for a confused mixture.^[2][3]
• 1899 – The derivative magmatique is recorded.^[3]
• c. 1960 – Magmatisme appears.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chemistry, dated) A thick paste or sludge left after the liquid parts of a substance have been pressed or evaporated off.^[2][7]
2. By extension, any thick, pasty mass.^[7][6]
3. (geology) magma, molten rock deep in the earth that cools into plutonic rock or volcanic lava.^[7][6]
4. (figurative) A confused, shapeless jumble: un magma d'idées et de souvenirs.^[7][6][1]
5. (mathematics) A magma, in algebra.^[1]

Word family

• magmatique
• magmatisme

Related words

• masse¹
• Latin magma
• Ancient Greek μάγμα (mágma)

References

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