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périscope

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Etymology and origin of the French word périscope

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Coinage
First attested
1899 Ledieu and Cadiat, Nouveau matériel naval More words from the 19th century
From
Ancient Greek περισκοπέω
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek περισκοπέω

Forms

périscope m (plural périscopes)[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek περισκοπέω (periskopéō, “to look around”), from περί (perí, “around”) and σκοπέω (skopéō, “to look at, examine”).[2][3][4] Wiktionary analyses it as from French péri- + -scope.[1] The Grand Robert takes the instrument's name from English periscope (about 1830),[5] which Bloch and Wartburg also say was created in English.[6]

In English the word meant “general view” in the 1820s, named a type of photographic lens from 1865, and was applied to the submarine instrument in 1899.[2][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The name was first given in French to a genus of snakes, adapting the zoological Latin periscopus (in d'Orbigny's dictionary, 1847); this word has disappeared.[3][2] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date the zoological sense to 1874.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The word was then used for a type of photographic lens (1865), before naming the optical apparatus for submarines, which the TLFi and Rey credit to the Frenchman E. H. Marié-Davy (1854); the TLFi's first record of it in French is from 1899.[3][2] The Petit Robert also names the periscopes of tanks.[4] From the submarine use comes the familiar phrase (donner un) coup de périscope “a cautious look round first”, figuratively “a survey of the situation”.[3]

Timeline

  • 1847 – d'Orbigny's dictionary uses it for a genus of snakes.[3]
  • 1865 – It names a type of photographic lens.[3]
  • 1899 – Ledieu and Cadiat use it for the instrument.[2][4]
  • 1899 – English periscope is applied to the submarine instrument.[2][7]
  • before 1903 – The Nouveau Larousse illustré records it.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An optical instrument made of lenses and prisms that lets an observer see over an obstacle, as in trenches or tanks.[4][8][9]
  2. The tube with an optical system that lets a submerged sous-marin observe the surface: hisser le périscope.[8][4]
  3. (familiar) Coup de périscope: a quick look round before acting, a survey of the situation.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Périscope.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/p%C3%A9riscope. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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