océanographie

Forms

océanographie f (plural océanographies)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French océan + -graphie.^[2][3][1] Océan is from Latin ōceanus, from Ancient Greek ὠκεανός (ōkeanós), originally a mythological figure;^[4] -graphie comes from γράφω (gráphō, “to write, describe”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1584 in Gruget's translation of the Diverses leçons of P. Messie, meaning a description of the oceans.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Coined in the age of the great navigators for a description of the seas, the word was rare until it was used again in 1876;^[7][3][4] Rey calls this second record the birth certificate of the science of the seas and oceans.^[7][3][4] The new discipline grew out of the precise sea charts of the 19th century and took shape around the British expedition of the Challenger (1872–1876); the English oceanography is recorded in 1859 and spread about 1880.^[7]

Littré still defined it simply as the description of the ocean.^[6] It now names the scientific study of the oceans and seas, their waters, floors and living things, and in a narrow sense the mapping of the ocean floor (1959).^[5][8] Its derivatives are océanographique and océanographe (1899).^[2]

Timeline

• 1584 – First recorded, in Gruget's translation of P. Messie.^[2][3]
• 1859 – The English oceanography is recorded.^[7]
• 1876 – Used again, in the Revue critique, for the new science.^[2][5]
• 1899 – Océanographe is recorded in the Grande Encyclopédie.^[2]
• 1959 – The Robert records the narrow sense “mapping of the ocean floor”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. oceanography, the scientific study of the oceans and seas, of the marine environment and of the organisms that live in it: océanographie physique, océanographie biologique.^[2][8]
2. In a narrow sense, the description and mapping of the oceans and their floors.^[5]

Word family

• océanographe
• océanographique

Related words

• océan
• océanique
• océanologie

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
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. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert