Etymologically
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normal

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /nɔʁ.mal/[1]

Forms

normal (feminine normale, masculine plural normaux, feminine plural normales)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin nōrmālis (“made with a carpenter's square; conforming to the rule”), derived from nōrma (“carpenter's square; rule”) (see norme).[2][3][4][5][1] In “école normale” the adjective means “serving as a model”, after the Latin sense of “nōrma” “rule of conduct”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Charles d'Orléans' ballad (about 1450–65) speaks of a verbe normal, sans conjugacion, a regular verb; the word then disappeared until the 18th century.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

It was taken up again in geometry: ligne normale (1753) and the noun la normale (1759), a line perpendicular to a tangent.[2][3] The écoles normales for training teachers date from the Revolution (1790; decree of the year III), and l'École normale supérieure gave the slang Normale (1885) and normalien (1868).[2][3]

Under the influence of norme, in the 19th century it spread with the senses “serving as a rule” (1803) and “usual, conforming to the average” (1839, Balzac), and in medicine état normal (1823); the two ideas, quantitative and qualitative, are sometimes confused.[2][3] Ne pas être dans son état normal is recorded by the Académie in 1878, and retour à la normale from 1959.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1450–65 – Verbe normal, Charles d'Orléans.[2]
  • 1753 – Ligne normale in geometry.[2]
  • 1790 – Écoles normales.[2]
  • 1803 – “Serving as a rule”, Boiste.[2]
  • 1823 – In anatomy.[2]
  • 1839 – “Usual”, Balzac.[2]
  • 1868 – Normalien.[3]
  • 1959 – La normale, the average.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. normal, usual, ordinary: une journée normale, en temps normal, ce n'est pas normal.[1][7]
  2. In a healthy, balanced state: il n'est pas dans son état normal.[2][5]
  3. Natural, to be expected: c'est normal, fair enough, (familiar) okay.[1][5]
  4. École normale: a teacher-training college, École normale supérieure.[7][3]
  5. (mathematics) Perpendicular, loi normale, the normal distribution.[7]

Noun

  1. La normale: the norm, the average: au-dessus de la normale, retour à la normale, (geometry) a normal.[3][7]

Word family

  • normalement
  • normalité
  • normaliser
  • normalisation
  • normalien
  • anormal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert