neutraliser

Forms

neutraliser^[1] Middle French se neutralizer (1564); neutralizer is also recorded by Cotgrave.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin neutrālis (“neutral”), a learned formation with the suffix -iser.^[2][4][5] The Latin adjective is from neuter (“neither”).^[5][6] In Medieval Latin there was the participle neutralisatus (“not taking sides”), recorded in 1411.^[2] Littré instead derived the verb from the old French adjective neutral, meaning “of a neutral nature”.^[3] Picoche places it in the family of neutre, beside neutralité.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1564 in Thierry's dictionary as the reflexive se neutralizer, meaning “to remain neutral”, to favour neither side.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The modern senses appeared only in the second half of the 18th century: in chemistry it meant “to cancel the properties of” an acid or base (1776), and in general use “to make harmless” (1789, Sieyès); the reflexive came to mean “to cancel each other out” (1803).^[4][2] In 1812 it was used in military language for preventing an army from acting, and in international law for guaranteeing the neutral status of a territory.^[2][4] Linguists have used it since 1939 for the loss of an opposition between sounds in some positions.^[2][4][8]

English neutralize is recorded from 1734 in a chemical sense, taken from the French verb; its old intransitive sense “to remain neutral” (1660s) is now obsolete.^[9]

Timeline

• 1564 – Thierry records se neutralizer “to remain neutral”.^[2][5]
• 1606 – The spelling se neutraliser is found in Crespin.^[5]
• 1734 – English neutralize is recorded.^[9]
• 1776 – First chemical use, in the supplement to the Encyclopédie.^[2][5]
• 1789 – Sieyès uses it for “to make harmless”.^[2][4]
• 1803 – The reflexive “to cancel each other out” appears in Maine de Biran.^[2]
• 1812 – Mozin records the military sense and the sense “to make a territory neutral”.^[2][4]
• 1939 – André Martinet uses it in linguistics.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (politics, law) To give a state or territory neutral status, keeping it out of a conflict.^[8][2]
2. (chemistry) To make an acid or base neutral by combining it with the other: neutraliser un acide par une base.^[8][3]
3. To cancel or counteract the effect of something, such as one colour or force by another.^[8][10]
4. To prevent someone or something from acting, to make harmless: la police a neutralisé le tireur.^[8][5]
5. (military) To stop enemy forces from acting, for instance by cutting their communications.^[2][5]
6. (linguistics) Of an opposition between sounds, to be suspended in certain positions.^[8][2]

Word family

• neutralisation
• neutralisable
• neutralisant

Related words

• neutre
• neutralité
• Latin neutrālis
• English neutralize

References

1. ^ 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 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)