Etymologically
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manganèse

Etymology and origin of the French word manganèse

History Permalink
Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1578, Vigenère
Borrowed from
Italian manganese
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French manganèse
English manganese

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɑ̃.ɡa.nɛz/[1]

Forms

manganèse m (plural manganèses)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian manganese, recorded in Italian from 1301–1303 as the name of black magnesia (manganese dioxide),[2][3][4] whose origin is uncertain.[2][3][5] Bloch and Wartburg, Gamillscheg and Corominas see in it an alteration of Medieval Latin magnēsia, the source of magnésie;[2][3][4] the TLFi and the GLLF note that neither this nor a proposed Byzantine Greek source fits the sound changes.[2][6] Littré reports Scheler's suggestion of German Manganerz and doubted the alteration of “magnésie”.[7]

French also had “magnèse”, after the Latin word, and the altered forms “magalaise” and “méganaise”.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vigenère uses it in 1578, in his translation of Philostratus' Images, for black magnesia, the peroxide of manganese used in glassmaking.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The name was transferred to the metal that Scheele and Gahn isolated from this mineral in 1774;[4][7] the Tableau de la nomenclature chimique gave it this sense in 1787.[2][3] In the 19th century it produced a series of chemical terms: manganeux (1831), manganate and manganique (1840), permanganate (1845) and manganifère (1873).[3] English manganese was borrowed from the French word in the 1670s as the name of the black mineral.[8]

Timeline

  • 1301–1303 – Italian manganese at Siena.[2]
  • 1578 – Manganèse “black magnesia” in Vigenère.[2]
  • 1774 – Scheele and Gahn isolate the metal.[9][7]
  • 1787 – The name of the metal, in the chemical nomenclature.[2]
  • 1845 – Permanganate.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Manganese, a hard, brittle grey metal, the chemical element of atomic number 25 (symbol Mn), used chiefly in alloys such as manganese steel.[10][11]
  2. (historical) Black magnesia, manganese dioxide.[2][7]

Word family

  • manganésé
  • manganate
  • permanganate

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 c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 197b
  6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Manganèse.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/mangan%C3%A8se. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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