sécrétion

Forms

sécrétion f (plural sécrétions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sēcrētiō (“separation, dissolution”),^[2][3][4] a derivative of sēcrētum, the supine of sēcernō (“to separate”).^[5][4][6] The same Latin verb is the source of secret.^[5][3] The physiological sense is a specialisation that arose in medicine.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first meant “the separation of one thing from another”, in the 1495–96 edition of Jean de Vignay's Miroir historial.^[2][5][4]

Semantic evolution

The etymological sense “separation”, and “a thing separated from another” (1611, Cotgrave), went out of use.^[5][2]

In 1711 the anatomists' term appears in the memoirs of the Académie royale des sciences: the separation of the bile, urine and other fluids from the blood was called secretion.^[2] By metonymy it came to name the substance itself (about 1740).^[5][4] Several learned physiological terms were formed on the same stem: sécrétoire (1710), sécréter (1798) and sécréteur.^[5][3]

Timeline

• 1495 – First recorded, meaning “separation”.^[2][5][3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records it.^[2][6]
• 1711 – Used in physiology for the separation of fluids from the blood.^[2][5]
• c. 1740 – It names the secreted substance.^[5][4]
• 1798 – The verb sécréter is recorded.^[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (physiology) The process by which cells or glands produce a substance that is released into the blood or discharged: la sécrétion de la salive.^[7][2][4]
2. (botany) The similar production of resin, gum or latex by plants.^[7][4]
3. The substance so produced.^[4][2][6]

Word family

• sécréter
• sécréteur
• sécrétoire

Related words

• secret
• excrétion
• Latin sēcernō

References

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