phlogistique

Forms

phlogistique m (plural phlogistiques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin phlogisticum, a word of modern scientific Latin formed by the German chemist Becher after Ancient Greek φλογιστός (phlogistós, “inflammable”) and taken up by Stahl.^[2][3][4][5] The TLFi instead treats it as a learned derivative of the modern Latin phlogiston (used by Stahl in 1733) with the suffix -ique.^[6] Rey likewise starts from that word, which he says Becher coined.^[7]

The Greek adjective is from φλογίζω (phlogízō, “to set on fire, burn”), from φλόξ (phlóx, “flame”), which is related to φλέγω (phlégō, “to burn, inflame”).^[4][7][8] English phlogistic is recorded with the same sense from 1733.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1747, as a term of chemistry for the fire principle that was thought to be part of every body.^[7][2][5] The TLFi's first quotation is from 1750, in a memoir by Ménon.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word named the fluid that the chemistry of the time supposed to be present in every combustible body: when it left the body, the body burned, and fire was thus counted among the elements or principles that bodies are made of.^[6][7][5] Littré explains that the principle was imagined by Becher, who called it an inflammable earth, and given its name by Stahl, and that a body was held to be made of phlogiston and a radical.^[8]

After ruling chemistry for more than half a century, the theory was overthrown by Lavoisier at the end of the 18th century, and the word passed into the history of science.^[7][5] The derivative phlogisticien (1842) names a supporter of the theory.^[7]

Timeline

• 1747 – First record of phlogistique.^[7][2][3]
• 1750 – Ménon uses it in a scientific memoir.^[6]
• 1751 – The Encyclopédie uses it in its article on calcination.^[4]
• 1842 – The derivative phlogisticien “supporter of the phlogiston theory” appears.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history of science) phlogiston, the fluid that the older chemistry supposed to be present in every body and to escape from it in combustion: la théorie du phlogistique.^[6][5][1]

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Of phlogiston, phlogistic.^[1]

Word family

• phlogisticien

Related words

• phlox
• Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx)
• English phlogiston

References

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