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normalisation

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Etymology and origin of the French word normalisation

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1873 Tolhausen, technological dictionary More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Latin norma

Pronunciation

  • /nɔʁ.ma.li.za.sjɔ̃/[1]

Forms

normalisation f (plural normalisations)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French normaliser + -ation.[2][3][1] The TLFi derives it from normal with -iser and the noun suffix.[4] Rey notes that the verb is recorded only from 1922, long after the English verb normalize (1865), but the noun's earlier date suggests that the verb existed before.[3] The adjective goes back to Latin normālis, from norma.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tolhausen's French–German–English technological dictionary of 1873 has it as an industrial term, the act of normalizing.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The noun and its verb were used first in industry, in the sense of the anglicism standardiser.[3] From 1924 (Gide) it also meant the establishing or restoring of normal relations.[4] About 1950 it spread into diplomacy and politics with the idea of returning to a normal state.[3][6][7] It sometimes carries a pejorative idea of making a person conform by coercion, and it has a specialized sense in linguistics.[3] The Association française de normalisation (AFNOR) is the body that draws up technical standards in France.[8][6]

Timeline

  • 1873 – Tolhausen's technological dictionary records the industrial sense.[4][3]
  • 1922 – The verb normaliser is first recorded.[3]
  • 1923 – The Larousse records the noun.[8][7]
  • 1924 – Gide uses it for restoring normal relations.[4]
  • c. 1950 – The political sense “return to a normal state” spreads.[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Standardization: the setting of norms and technical specifications for products, and bringing a product into line with them.[4][6]
  2. The restoring of a situation or of relations to a normal state, as between two countries.[4][6]
  3. (mathematics) A change of scale that brings a sum or an integral to unity, normalization.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
  6. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
Cite this entry

“Normalisation.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/normalisation. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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