périphérique

Forms

périphérique m (plural périphériques)^[1] In familiar French the noun is clipped to périf or périph.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French périphérie + -ique.^[4][5][1] The noun is from Late Latin peripheria (“circumference”), from Ancient Greek περιφέρεια (periphéreia), a compound of the Greek words for “around” and “to carry”.^[3][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi first finds it in 1842, in the Académie's Complément, meaning “situated on the outer edge” of a round or oval object;^[4] the Grand Robert, the GLLF and Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1838, also from the Académie.^[6][7][5]

Semantic evolution

From the outer edge of a circular object the adjective passed to the edge of a territory, and in 1935 Jules Romains wrote of the quartiers périphériques of Paris, the districts far from the centre.^[4][3] The boulevard périphérique, the ring road round Paris, appears in the city's official bulletin in 1959, and the noun le périphérique stands for it; familiar French clipped it to périph or périf, written from 1974.^[4][3][2] In anatomy it qualifies the outer parts of the body or of an organ, as in système nerveux périphérique.^[7][2] Littré already gave a botanical use.^[8]

From 1963 a station périphérique was a private radio station whose transmitters stood in a country bordering France, the audience it broadcast to.^[4][3][2] In computing the noun has named, since 1968, a device connected to a computer's central unit, such as a printer or a storage drive.^[4][3][2]

Timeline

• 1842 – First record, in the Académie's Complément.^[4]
• 1935 – Jules Romains writes of quartiers périphériques.^[4][3]
• 1959 – Boulevard périphérique appears in the official bulletin of the city of Paris.^[4][3]
• 1963 – Émetteur, poste, station périphérique are recorded in radio.^[4][3]
• 1968 – The noun is used in computing.^[4][3]
• 1974 – The clipped form périph or périf is found in writing.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Situated on the outer edge, the periphery, of something; the opposite of central.^[4][7]
2. Situated on the outskirts of a town: quartiers périphériques.^[7][2]
3. (anatomy) In the outer regions of the body or of an organ: système nerveux périphérique.^[7][2]
4. (radio) Of a station broadcasting to France from transmitters in a neighbouring country.^[2][3]

Noun

1. A ring road round a town, especially the boulevard périphérique of Paris; familiarly périf or périph.^[2][7][1]
2. (computing) A peripheral, a device separate from a computer's central unit.^[2][4][1]

Related words

• périphérie

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette