sédimentaire

Forms

sédimentaire (plural sédimentaires)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French sédiment + -aire.^[2][3][4] An earlier adjective, sédimenteux, was used in 1718.^[3] The base noun is a borrowing of 16th-century medicine from Latin sedimentum (“a settling, subsidence”), used in place of medical Latin sedimen (“deposit of urine”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and the DHLF date the word to 1838, with the meaning “formed of sediments”;^[4][5][6] the TLFi, Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF first find it in the Académie's complement of 1842.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Like most derivatives of sédiment, it is a term of geology, used mainly of an essential class of terrains and rocks.^[6] The GLLF dates roche sédimentaire to the Larousse of 1876 and bassin sédimentaire, a region of slow subsidence where layers of sediment pile up, to 1964.^[7] The TLFi also records the sense “relating to sediments or to their formation”, as in pétrographie sédimentaire.^[2]

Timeline

• 1838 – First record of sédimentaire.^[4][5][6]
• 1842 – The Académie's complement records it.^[2][3][7]
• 1876 – Roche sédimentaire appears in Larousse.^[7]
• 1964 – Larousse records bassin sédimentaire.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (geology) sedimentary: formed by or made of sediments: une couche sédimentaire.^[5][2][7]
2. (geology) Relating to sediments or to sédimentation.^[2]
3. Roche sédimentaire: a sedimentary rock, such as limestone or sandstone.^[5][7]
4. Bassin sédimentaire: a region where layers of sediment have built up over a long geological period.^[7]

Related words

• sédiment
• sédimentation
• sédimenter
• Latin sedimentum

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ 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