régulateur

Forms

régulateur (feminine régulatrice, masculine plural régulateurs, feminine plural régulatrices)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned formation from Late Latin rēgulō (“to direct, regulate”), with the suffix -ateur.^[2][3][4] The Late Latin verb comes from rēgula (“rule”), the source of French règle.^[5][6] Rey thinks the word was formed twice, at the beginning of the 16th century and again in the 18th, after régulation.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first, isolated record is in Fossetier's chronicle at the beginning of the 16th century (1508 in the Petit Robert), in pere regulateur des moisnes “father who rules the monks”, an adjective for the person who directs something.^[2][7][6]

Semantic evolution

After this the word fell out of use; it returned in the 18th century, as a noun for a mechanism that keeps something regular (1728, the regulator of a watch) and for a person who sets the rule (1788, in Barthélemy).^[2][6] D'Alembert used it in 1770 for anything that disciplines or makes something regular, a general sense that remained rare.^[2][6] The adjective was revived in the late 18th century (loi régulatrice, Necker, 1792, principe régulateur, Laplace, 1796).^[2][5]

The 19th century added technical senses: a precision clock used to set others (1862), a part of the plough that sets the shares (1870), the centrifugal governor (1870) and Watt's governor (1888).^[2][6] Physiology used it of organs and processes that keep the body's functions steady (1884), the First World War of the railway stations and officers that organised troop transport (gare régulatrice, 1917, commissaire-régulateur, 1918), and railways of the agent who follows train movements (1964).^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1508 – First, isolated record, in Fossetier, as an adjective “who directs”.^[2][7]
• 1728 – A noun for a device that regulates, such as the regulator of a watch.^[2][6]
• 1765 – Date of first record given by Bloch and Wartburg.^[4]
• 1770 – D'Alembert uses it for what imposes regularity.^[2]
• 1788 – The noun for a person who sets the rule, in Barthélemy.^[2][6]
• 1796 – Laplace writes of a principe régulateur.^[2][5]
• 1862 – A precision clock.^[2][6]
• 1884 – Physiology uses it of regulating organs.^[2]
• 1917 – Gare régulatrice in Barrès.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That regulates, that makes something steady or regular: une force régulatrice, un mécanisme régulateur.^[7][9][2]
2. (physiology) Keeping a body function steady: hormones régulatrices.^[7][5]
3. (military) Gare régulatrice: a station that centralises troop transport in wartime.^[2]

Noun

1. A device that keeps a quantity such as speed, pressure or temperature constant: a regulator, governor.^[9][8][6] Régulateur de vitesse: a speed regulator.^[9]
2. (literary) What disciplines or moderates something.^[7][2]
3. A precision clock, usually with a compensated pendulum.^[8][10]
4. (railways) The agent who follows the actual movement of trains on a section of line.^[8][2]

Related words

• régulation
• réguler
• régulier
• règle
• Latin rēgula

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 n o p q r s 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette