Etymologically
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manganèse

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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)