résiduel

Forms

résiduel (feminine résiduelle, masculine plural résiduels, feminine plural résiduelles)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French résidu + -el.^[2][1][3][4] Résidu (1331) is from Latin residuum (“remainder”), the neuter of the adjective residuus (“remaining, left over”) used as a noun.^[2][3] The suffix is the French form of -al.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Littré records it as a learned word meaning “of the nature of a residue, belonging to the residue”, with a use in physics for the weaker second discharge of a Leyden jar left to itself, the charge résiduelle.^[5][2] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it 1870, the TLFi and the Petit Robert 1871.^{[3][4][6][2][7]}

Semantic evolution

First a term of physics and of industry for what is left over after an operation,^[8][6] it was taken up in geology around the middle of the 20th century for what remains of an earlier rock or terrain after part of its matter has been removed, as in relief résiduel.^[8][6][2]

It is also used figuratively of the part of something that persists in spite of efforts to remove it, notably in chômage résiduel “residual unemployment” (1974).^[8][6][2]

Timeline

• 1331 – The base noun résidu is first recorded, as a legal term for the balance of an account.^[2][3]
• 1870 – Littré records résiduel.^[3][6][4]
• 1904 – The Larousse records a further sense.^[6]
• 1964 – The geological sense and the industrial sense are recorded.^[6]
• 1974 – Chômage résiduel is recorded.^[8][6][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Forming a residue or remainder after an industrial process or any transformation.^[2][6][7]
2. (geology) Left after the erosion or removal of part of an earlier rock or relief: relief résiduel.^[2][6][7]
3. Persisting despite efforts to remove it: fatigue résiduelle, chômage résiduel.^[2][7]
4. (physiology) Air résiduel: the air that stays in the lungs after a forced breath out.^[2]
5. (physics) Charge résiduelle: the charge left in a capacitor after it has been discharged.^[2][5]
6. (figurative) Forming a residue in the mind: Un doute résiduel la retenait encore.^[7]

Related words

• résidu
• résiduaire
• Latin residuus

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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert