mollusque

Forms

mollusque m (plural mollusques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin molluscus, first used in its neuter plural form by Jonston in 1650,^[2][3][4] modelled on Latin mollusca (“a kind of soft-shelled nut”), said of a nut with a soft shell, especially the chestnut, in the Latin of the imperial period;^[2][3][5] that word is derived from mollis (“soft”), the source of mou.^[2][3] The Grand Robert credits Cuvier with the scientific Latin word.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1763, in E. Bertrand's Dictionnaire universel des fossiles, for an invertebrate animal with a soft body.^[2][3][5] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date it from 1771.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Linnaeus applied the Latin word in 1758 to a mixed group of invertebrates that also took in echinoderms and annelids; the modern sense comes mainly from Cuvier's classification (before 1800), in which the molluscs were a subkingdom of gastropods, scaphopods, cephalopods and lamellibranchs, and Lamarck in 1801 divided them into molluscs with and without a head.^[3] In everyday language the word applies above all to marine invertebrates.^[3]

Still felt as related to mou, it has been used figuratively since 1836 (Balzac) for a dull, slow or spineless person.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1650 – Jonston uses the Latin neuter plural mollusca.^[2][3]
• 1758 – Linnaeus applies the Latin word to a group of invertebrates.^[3]
• 1763 – First French record, in E. Bertrand's dictionary of fossils.^[2][5]
• Before 1800 – Cuvier's classification gives the modern sense.^[3]
• 1836 – Balzac uses it for a dull person.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mollusc, an invertebrate animal with a soft body, often protected by a shell.^[7][8][2]
2. (in the plural, zoology) The phylum of such animals, made up of the gastropods, bivalves, cephalopods and others.^[2][7][8]
3. (figurative, familiar) A soft, spineless person, a mollasson.^[7][8][1]

Related words

• mou
• mollasson
• Latin mollis

References

1. ^ a b c 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 h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 57b
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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)