Etymologically
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oxygène

Etymology and origin of the French word oxygène

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound, Coinage
First attested
1783, principe oxygine
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (ὀξύς,γένος)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French oxygène
English oxygen

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɔk.si.ʒɛn/[1]

Forms

oxygène m (countable and uncountable, plural oxygènes)[1] Principe oxygine (1783), principe oxygène (1786), oxygène as a noun (1787).[2][3]

Etymology

It was coined by Lavoisier from oxy- (“acid”), from Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús, “sharp, sour, acid”), and -gène (“producing”), from the root of γένος (génos, “birth”) or γεννάω (gennáō, “to produce”): literally “acid-producing”, since it was thought to be part of every acid.[2][3][4][1][5][6][7] Chemists at first hesitated between “oxygène” and “oxygine”, after Latin gignō (“to beget”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A memoir on the decomposition of water (1783) speaks of the principe oxygine; in 1786 Fourcroy writes that Lavoisier calls vital air the principe oxygène, or the principle “proper to engender acids”.[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

As early as 1787 the word was used as a noun, in Guyton de Morveau's Méthode de nomenclature chimique, which also introduced oxygéné.[2][3][4] Littré notes that the gas was discovered in 1774 by Priestley and Scheele, but that Lavoisier explained its part in combustion and breathing and gave it its name.[5]

The verb oxygéner first meant “to combine with oxygen” (1789), a sense later taken by oxyder, and then “to enrich with oxygen” (1824); eau oxygénée (1804) gave cheveux oxygénés and une blonde oxygénée (1900), bleached hair.[3][4] By extension oxygène is fresh, healthy air, and figuratively something that revives: ballon d'oxygène (1913) is a lifeline.[3][2][8]

Timeline

  • 1783 – Principe oxygine.[2][3]
  • 1786 – Principe oxygène (Fourcroy, after Lavoisier).[2][4]
  • 1787 – Oxygène as a noun[2][3]; oxygéné.[2][3]
  • 1804 – Eau oxygénée.[4]
  • 1835 – First recorded by the Académie.[2]
  • 1900 – Oxygéner “to bleach hair”.[3]
  • 1913 – Ballon d'oxygène (Alain-Fournier).[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Oxygen (symbol O), the gas that makes up about a fifth of the air: bouteille d'oxygène.[9][1]
  2. An oxygen atom in a molecule.[1]
  3. (figurative) Fresh air; something that revives: ballon d'oxygène, a lifeline.[3][8]

Word family

  • antioxygène
  • oxygéner

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 452b
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Oxygène.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/oxyg%C3%A8ne. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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