réaction

Forms

réaction f (plural réactions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin reactiō, a word of the scholastic Latin, found about 1345 in England and recommended by Vossius in the 16th–17th centuries.^[2][3][1][4] The Latin word was formed with re- on Latin āctiō (“action”), from agō (“to do”).^[2][5][6] The Grand Robert describes it as French ré- with action, after réagir.^[7]

Bloch and Wartburg date the technical word to the 16th century, the Grand Robert to 1690 and the Grand Larousse to 1674 (Malebranche).^[8][7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1616 P. Coton spoke of the combat et réaction du chaud avec le froid “the struggle and reaction of heat with cold”: in physics, an action opposed to another and produced by it.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the 18th century the word was applied to social and mental facts: an action answering another and tending to cancel it (1734, Montesquieu), and a person's behaviour in answer to something outside (1790), especially a strong emotion after an event (1859).^[2][3] During the Revolution it named a movement of opinion against the one before it (1790), and since 1792 (Marat) any movement that opposes the changes born of the Revolution and seeks to restore earlier institutions;^[3][2] hence réactionnaire (1796).^[8]

In the 19th century it entered chemistry (1801), physiology (1803) and medicine (1857), with phrases such as réaction inflammatoire (1874).^[2][3] In riding it names the jolts a moving horse gives its rider (1835).^[2][9] The 20th century added propulsion par réaction (1932), avion à réaction (1948) and réaction en chaîne (1946).^[2]

The English word reaction (1640s) was modelled on the French word.^[6]

Timeline

• 1616 – P. Coton uses it in physics.^[2][3]
• 1734 – Montesquieu uses it for a response tending to cancel an action.^[2][3]
• 1790 – Used of a person's response to an outside action.^[2][3]
• 1792 – Marat uses la réaction in the political sense.^[2][3]
• 1801 – Fourcroy uses it in chemistry.^[2][5]
• 1803 – Maine de Biran uses it of living matter answering a stimulus.^[2]
• 1835 – Lamartine uses it in riding.^[2]
• 1857 – Used in medicine.^[2][3]
• 1946 – Réaction nucléaire and réaction en chaîne appear.^[2]
• 1948 – Cendrars has avion à réaction.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mechanics) The force that a body acted on exerts in return on the body acting on it.^[4][10]
2. Propulsion par réaction: jet propulsion;^[4][10][2] avion à réaction: a jet aircraft.^[4][10][2]
3. (chemistry) The action of substances on one another that changes them: réaction en chaîne “chain reaction”.^[2][4]
4. (physiology, medicine) The response of an organism or organ to a stimulus or to a cause of disease.^[2][4]
5. A person's response to an event or to someone's action: sa réaction a surpris tout le monde “her reaction surprised everyone”.^[2][11]
6. (politics) A movement of ideas opposed to progress that seeks to restore an earlier order; also the people who hold such views.^[2][4]
7. (riding) The jolt a horse in motion gives its rider.^[9][2]

Word family

• réactant
• réacteur
• réactif
• réactionnaire

Related words

• réagir
• action
• Medieval Latin reactiō
• English reaction

References

1. ^ a b c 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 t u v w x y 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 e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, 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. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)