oscillation

Forms

oscillation f (plural oscillations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin ōscillātiō (“action of swinging”), formed on the supine of ōscillō (“to swing”).^[2][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg date the noun to 1605, nearly 150 years before the verb osciller (1752), which was borrowed from the same Latin verb.^[5]

The Latin verb is from ōscillum, a diminutive of ōs (“mouth, face”): in the sense “face” it named the small masks, chiefly of Bacchus, that were hung in trees and vineyards to swing in the wind.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Le Loyer's book on ghosts (1605) uses it of a body that moves to and fro in two opposite directions, swinging to the right and left of a central point; the TLFi calls this an isolated record.^[2][3] It is found again in 1681, in a remark by the abbé de Catelan on Huygens's treatise on the pendulum.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century, in step with osciller, it came to mean “variation, fluctuation” (Diderot, 1745, in the plural), and took the general scientific sense of any to-and-fro movement on either side of a position of equilibrium (1754).^[2][3] Brisson's centre d'oscillation dates from 1789.^[2][4]

Later it received special senses in meteorology (about 1860, Fromentin), in electricity, for the alternating charging and discharging currents of a circuit (1890), and in mathematics (1932).^[2][3] Oscillations hertziennes is recorded in 1892, and oscillation de relaxation in 1937.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1605 – Le Loyer uses it of a swinging body.^[2][3]
• 1681 – It reappears in a remark on Huygens's treatise on the pendulum.^[2]
• 1745 – Diderot uses it figuratively for variations or fluctuations.^[2][3]
• 1754 – Diderot uses it of any back-and-forth movement around a position of equilibrium.^[2]
• 1789 – Centre d'oscillation appears in Brisson.^[2]
• c. 1860 – Fromentin applies it to the climate.^[2][4]
• 1890 – A supplement of Larousse records the electrical sense.^[2]
• 1932 – The mathematical sense is recorded.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The movement of a body that oscillates, going back and forth on either side of a position of equilibrium: les oscillations d'une balançoire.^[6][2]
2. (physics) An alternating variation of a quantity in time around a fixed value: oscillation amortie, oscillation entretenue.^[6][7]
3. (electricity) The succession of charging and discharging currents in an electric circuit.^[7][2]
4. A back-and-forth movement in general: les oscillations d'un navire.^[6][8]
5. (figurative) A fluctuation, an alternating and irregular change: les oscillations des prix.^[7][2]

Related words

• osciller
• Latin ōscillātiō

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 q r 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. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette