radioactivité

Forms

radioactivité f (plural radioactivités)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French radio- + activité.^[2][3][4] The Petit Robert and Rey take it as formed from radioactif, coined just before it.^[5][6] Etymonline says that Pierre and Marie Curie coined the word in 1898.^[7] The element radio- is from Latin radius (“ray”), taken in the sense “ray of light”;^[6][1] activité is a learned borrowing from Medieval Latin āctīvitās.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in the Comptes rendus of the Académie des sciences for 1898;^[2] the Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and Rey date it 1896.^[3][5][6] It names the property of certain elements of changing spontaneously into others while giving off radiation.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The Académie notes that the phenomenon was discovered in 1896 by Henri Becquerel.^[4] The word was formed with radioactif at the time when radio- became very productive in physics, chemistry and medicine, and it was followed by radioactivation (before 1963).^[6] By metonymy it also names the radiation given off.^[2][4] The hyphenated spelling radio-activité was also used: the GLLF lists it first, with a date of 1904 in Larousse.^[8][2] English radioactivity (1899) is borrowed from the French word.^[7]

Timeline

• 1896 – Henri Becquerel discovers the phenomenon.^[4]
• 1898 – Radioactivité appears in the Comptes rendus of the Académie des sciences.^[2][7]
• 1899 – English radioactivity is borrowed from French.^[7]
• 1904 – Larousse records radio-activité.^[8]
• 1935 – The Académie's dictionary records the word.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (physics) radioactivity: the property of certain atomic nuclei of changing spontaneously into other elements while emitting radiation (α and β particles or γ rays).^[5][9][4]
2. By metonymy, the radiation so emitted, or a measure of it.^[2][4]
3. Radioactivité naturelle: that of heavy atoms found in nature, radioactivité artificielle: that induced in stable bodies by bombarding their nuclei.^[5]

Related words

• radioactif
• activité
• radium
• English radioactivity

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
5. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)