normalité

Forms

normalité f (plural normalités)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French normal + -ité.^[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in April 1834, in A. Siguier's Le Pygmée, a collection of scientific and literary essays, meaning the quality of what is normal.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Littré already labels it a learned term for the quality of what is normal.^[6] Rey glosses it as the character of what is normal, that is, conforming to a norm.^[7] The TLFi distinguishes a statistical sense, normality as what occurs most often, from the sense of conformity to a norm.^[2] The 1963 Larousse added a chemical sense.^[5]

Timeline

• 1834 – First record, in Le Pygmée.^[2][5]
• 1963 – The Larousse records the chemical sense.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (formal) The quality of what is normal, normality, as in Après la grève, la ville retrouve peu à peu la normalité.^[4][2][1]
2. (chemistry) The ratio between the concentration of a solution and that of the normal solution of the same dissolved substance.^[4][5]

Related words

• normal
• anormalité
• normaliser

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert