pénombre

Forms

pénombre f (plural pénombres)^[1] The word was first masculine (1651); the feminine is recorded in 1671, spelled pen-ombre.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin penumbra, most likely Frenchified, a word of scientific Latin coined by the German physicist Johannes Kepler in 1604 for the zone of the Moon where the Sun's light is only partly cut off.^[2][3][4] Kepler formed it from Latin paene (“almost”) and umbra (“shadow”).^[2][4][5][6]

Although the first French record is a painting term, the TLFi and the FEW hold that the word passed from science into painting, not the other way round.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1651, as a masculine noun, in Fréart de Chambray's French translation of Leonardo da Vinci's treatise on painting, where it names the point at which shadow meets light and the picture passes from light to dark; the Italian text has a different word there.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The scientific sense, the zone of partial shadow cast by an opaque body, is recorded in physics and astronomy from 1666 in the Journal des savants.^[2][3] In the 19th century the word entered everyday use for half-light in general (1842, in the Académie's supplement),^[2][3] and, figuratively, for an obscure position: rester dans la pénombre “to stay out of the limelight” is dated 1860 by Rey and 1878 by the TLFi.^[3][2]

In astronomy it also names the less dark outer part of a sunspot.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1604 – Kepler coins Latin penumbra.^[2][4]
• 1651 – First French record, as a masculine painting term.^[2][3]
• 1666 – Used in physics and astronomy.^[2][3][4]
• 1671 – The feminine pen-ombre is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1842 – The Académie's supplement records the sense “half-light”.^[2][9]
• 1870 – The derivative pénombreux appears, in painting.^[2][3]
• 1878 – The Académie records rester dans la pénombre.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Weak, subdued light; half-light: la pénombre d'une chapelle.^[10][11][8]
2. (physics) A zone of partial shadow, where an opaque body cuts off only part of the rays of a light source; a penumbra.^[10][2][8]
3. (astronomy) The zone round the cone of shadow of a body in the solar system, and the lighter outer part of a sunspot.^[8][2]
4. (figurative) Obscurity: rester dans la pénombre, to stay out of view.^[8][2]

Word family

• pénombreux
• pénombral

Related words

• ombre
• péninsule
• Latin paene
• Latin umbra

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 q r s 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 d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 24b
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 25a
8. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)