marine

Forms

marine f (plural marines)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French marin (“of the sea”), its feminine used as a noun.^[2][3][4][5] The adjective Latin marīnus was already used in the phrases aqua marīna (“sea water”) and loca marīna (“coastal places”), and the first Old French senses match them;^[2][6] the GLLF allows for a direct source in Latin marīna (“sea water”) as well.^[7] The Latin adjective is derived from mare (“sea”).^[5][1]

Cognate with Italian marina, Occitan marina, Catalan marina, Spanish marina and Portuguese marinha.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Geoffroy Gaimar's Histoire des Anglais (about 1140) uses it both for the sea and for the coast or seashore.^[2][7] Littré and the Grand Robert place the first use in the 11th century, Littré quoting a line of the Chanson de Roland.^[9][3]

Semantic evolution

The senses “sea water” and “seashore” have both gone out of use;^[6] the sense “beach, shore” was still found in the 19th century.^[5] The Académie recorded in 1694 the sense “the taste or smell of the sea”, as in cela sent la marine.^[2] The sense “seashore” probably lies behind “a painting of the sea” (1699, with an earlier example of 1621), a genre that grew up in the Netherlands in the 16th century.^[2][6]

In the 16th century the word took the sense “the art of navigation” (1559, Amyot).^[2][6] By metonymy it came to mean the whole of a country's naval personnel and ships (1616, d'Aubigné), with the phrases marine marchande (1765) and marine militaire (1771), and the naval administration (1811, ministère de la Marine).^[2][6][7] Like marin, it is used in apposition for the colour of the naval uniform, bleu marine (1874, Mallarmé).^[2][6]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – “Sea” and “seashore” in Gaimar.^[2][7]
• early 14th century – “Sea water” in the Ovide moralisé.^[2]
• 1559 – Amyot uses it for seafaring.^[2][7]
• 1616 – D'Aubigné uses it for a country's naval power.^[2][6]
• 1621 – A painted sea is called a marine.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records “the taste or smell of the sea”.^[2]
• 1699 – Roger de Piles uses it for a seascape painting.^[2]
• 1765 – Marine marchande in the Encyclopédie.^[2][7]
• 1771 – Marine militaire in the Trévoux dictionary.^[2][7]
• 1811 – Chateaubriand uses it for the naval administration.^[2]
• 1874 – Mallarmé writes bleu marine.^[2][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic) The sea; sea water; the seashore.^[4][2]
2. A seascape, a painting of the sea; the genre of such paintings: Elle expose ses marines à Honfleur.^[4][2][11]
3. After a number, a format of canvas much wider than it is high.^[4]
4. The art of navigation at sea; the maritime services and those who work at sea.^[4][9]
5. The ships of a nation or of one kind; the navy: marine marchande (merchant navy), marine militaire, marine de guerre.^[4][2][7][1]
6. La Marine: the naval service and its administration.^[2][9]

Adjective

1. (invariable) navy blue, also bleu marine: une veste marine.^[2][12][10]

Word family

• mariner

Related words

• marin
• marinier
• mer
• Latin marīnus

Usage notes

The Grand Robert has a second, masculine marine (1815), a soldier of the American Marine Corps or the British Royal Marines; it is the English word, itself taken from French marine.^[3][4][13] The TLFi dates this borrowing to 1860 and notes that the English word first meant a sailor, then a soldier serving on a warship (1672).^[2] The TLFi also lists a regional marine of the Provençal and Corsican coast, a small sheltered harbour or beach,^[2] which the Petit Robert ties to Italian marina.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 83a