nucléaire

Forms

nucléaire (plural nucléaires)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned formation, from Latin nucleus (“kernel”) with the suffix -aire.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin word, a diminutive of nux (“nut”), meant the kernel, the hardest part of a body and the inner part of a thing.^[2][3] The Wiktionnaire derives it from nucléus.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rey dates it to 1834, in Jourdan's dictionary, as a botanical term for what relates to the kernel and its contents;^[3] the Grand Robert and Bloch and Wartburg give 1838,^[5][4] and the TLFi 1840.^[2] The Grand Robert also records a form nucléal.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In biology it came to mean “relating to the nucleus of the cell” (1857).^[2][3] From 1919 it is a term of physics, “relating to the nucleus of the atom”; the English word nuclear had this sense from 1914.^[2][3]

The adjective became common in the 1950s for the energy of the atomic nucleus, in énergie nucléaire (1951) and centrale nucléaire (1962), and as the noun le nucléaire (1966).^[2][3] Rey links this spread partly to the wish to keep the peaceful use of atomic energy apart from the military one, for which atomique remained in use.^[3] It is also used in sociology of the small modern family (1949, after English nuclear family) and in linguistics of the nucleus of the sentence (1953, Tesnière).^[3][2]

Its derivatives include nucléariser (1915) and nucléarisation (1959); compounds in physics such as thermonucléaire (1950) and dénucléariser (about 1957) followed.^[3]

Timeline

• 1834 – Jourdan's dictionary records it in botany.^[3]
• 1838 – The Académie's sense “relating to the kernel of a fruit”.^[5][7]
• 1857 – Monneret uses it of the cell nucleus.^[2][3]
• 1919 – First used in physics, of the atomic nucleus.^[2][3]
• 1951 – Énergie nucléaire is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1953 – Tesnière uses it in linguistics.^[2][3]
• 1962 – Centrale nucléaire is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1966 – Le nucléaire is used as a noun.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (biology) Relating to the nucleus of the cell.^[8][9][10]
2. (physics) Relating to the nucleus of the atom: physique nucléaire.^[8][9]
3. Relating to the energy released by the atomic nucleus and to its uses: énergie nucléaire, centrale nucléaire, arme nucléaire.^[8][10][2]
4. (sociology) Famille nucléaire: a family of the parents and their children only.^[2][3]
5. (linguistics) Relating to the nucleus of the sentence.^[2][3]

Noun

1. Le nucléaire: nuclear energy and the techniques and industries that use it.^[10][9][3]

Word family

• nucléariser
• nucléarisation
• thermonucléaire
• dénucléariser
• antinucléaire
• mononucléaire
• polynucléaire
• électronucléaire

Related words

• noyau
• noix
• nucléus
• Latin nucleus
• English nuclear

References

1. ^ a b 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 d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)