microbe

Forms

microbe m (plural microbes)^[1]

Etymology

The surgeon Charles Sédillot coined it in 1878 from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) + βίος (bíos, “life”), meaning literally “small life, small living organism”.^[2][3][1] Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert instead take it from the Greek compound μικρόβιος (mikróbios, “short-lived”), and the GLLF likewise glosses the compound as “having a short life”.^[4][5][6] Etymonline notes that the word was criticized as badly formed, since in Greek such a compound would mean “short-lived”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sédillot introduced it in 1878 in the weekly reports of the Académie des sciences, for the microscopic organisms that cause disease and putrefaction.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

At first microbe named every organism invisible to the naked eye that caused disease or rot, including what are now called viruses, where today one says micro-organisme, a word from 1876; in modern terminology it is restricted to a single-celled, disease-causing micro-organism.^[3][8] Since 1888 it has also been a familiar word for a small, puny person or a child.^[2][3][6]

Most of its derivatives arose with Pasteur's discoveries: microbiologie (1883), properly a compound of microbe rather than of micro- and biologie, and the adjective microbien (1888).^[3] English took microbe from French in 1878.^[7]

Timeline

• 1878 – Sédillot coins the word.^[2][3][4]
• 1878 – English borrows it as microbe.^[7]
• 1883 – Microbiologie is attested.^[3]
• 1888 – Villatte records the familiar sense “puny person”.^[2][6]
• 1888 – The adjective microbien appears, after microbique (1884).^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) Any microorganism invisible to the naked eye.^[8][2]
2. A single-celled micro-organism that causes disease, a germ.^[8][3]
3. (figurative, familiar) A small, puny person, a little kid.^[8][6][2]

Word family

• microbien
• microbiologie
• microbicide
• antimicrobien

Related words

• micro-organisme
• English microbe

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert