périphérie

Forms

périphérie f (plural périphéries)^[1] Old French perifere and peryfere; the form peripherie, remade on the Greek model, dates from 1544.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin peripheria (“circumference, outline”), first as Old French perifere.^[2][3][4] The form peripherie, reshaped after the Greek, dates from 1544.^[2][3] The Latin word was taken from Ancient Greek περιφέρεια (periphéreia, “circumference, arc of a circle”), from περιφερής (peripherḗs, “turning, rounded”), from περιφέρω (periphérō, “to carry around”), a compound of περί (perí, “around”) and φέρω (phérō, “to carry”).^[2][5][3] Picoche places it in the family of the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *bher- (“to carry”), among the learned words built on its Greek stem.^[6]

The dates of the first record differ: the TLFi gives the end of the 13th century, the Grand Robert and the GLLF about 1270, the Petit Robert 1369 and Bloch and Wartburg about 1360, adding that the word was rare before the 18th century.^{[2][4][5][7][8]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is perifere (also peryfere) in Mahieu le Vilain's translation of Aristotle's Meteorologica (Metheores), at the end of the 13th century, meaning the circumference or outline of a curved figure.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

A term of geometry at first, the word came to be used in everyday language for the outer edge of any object (1813) and the outer surface of a body (1814).^[3][2] Applied to the outer part of a territory, near its borders, it came to name especially the districts lying far from the centre of a town (1913, Jules Romains), which is now its usual sense.^[3][2][7] In economics and politics it also names the less developed countries whose development depends on the industrialized ones.^[9]

Its derivative périphérique (1842) was applied to a district on the edge of a town (1935) and a ring road (1959); as a masculine noun, le périphérique is the ring road of Paris.^[3]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Perifere “circumference of a curved figure” appears in Mahieu le Vilain's Metheores.^[2]
• 1544 – The form peripherie appears in the French translation of Peter Apian's Cosmographie.^[2][3]
• 1814 – Nysten defines it as the circumference or outer surface of any body.^[2]
• 1842 – The derivative périphérique is recorded.^[3]
• 1913 – Jules Romains uses it of the districts far from a town's centre.^[2][3][7]
• 1959 – Boulevard périphérique is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geometry) The line that bounds a curved figure or a surface; the perimeter or circumference.^[7][10][2]
2. The outer surface or edge of an object: la périphérie d'une roue.^[7][10][9]
3. The outskirts of a town: the districts far from its centre: habiter à la périphérie de Lyon.^[7][10][9]
4. (economics, politics) The less developed countries, whose development depends on the industrialized ones.^[9]

Word family

• périphérique

Related words

• Ancient Greek περιφέρεια (periphéreia)

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)