sénile

Forms

sénile (plural séniles)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin senīlis (“of an old man”), from senex (“old, old man”).^[2][3][4][5] Rey records it in the 15th century and then in 1512; the TLFi's first quotation is from 1509, in Jean Lemaire de Belges.^[3][2] Bloch–Wartburg date the medical word from 1812, after a first borrowing about 1500 in the general sense of having an old man's character.^[4] The Latin comparative senior, gave seigneur.^[3]

Cognate with Occitan senil, Spanish senil and Italian senile.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jean Lemaire de Belges (1509) uses it for what is proper to old men.^[2] Montaigne in the 16th century writes of a demigod with a child's face but senile prudence, the wisdom of old age.^[6]

Semantic evolution

At first the adjective was applied to behaviour attributed to the old, mainly in a moral sense.^[3] At the end of the 18th century it was taken up by medicine for the processes proper to old age: Fourcroy wrote of mort sénile in 1801, and arc sénile, a whitish ring round the cornea, is recorded in 1865.^[3][2][7] From the mid-19th century, Hugo in 1862 among the first, it was said of an old person who has lost his mental powers; purists hold vieillard sénile to be a tautology.^[3][2]

English took the word from French in the 1660s, in the sense “characteristic of old age”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1509 – Jean Lemaire de Belges uses it of what is proper to old men.^[2]
• 16th century – Montaigne writes of senile prudence.^[6]
• 1660s – English borrows senile.^[8]
• 1801 – Fourcroy uses mort sénile in medicine.^[2][7]
• 1832 – The noun sénilité appears.^[3]
• 1862 – Hugo applies it to a person weakened in mind by age.^[2][3]
• 1865 – Arc sénile is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of old age or old people; characteristic of old age: Une voix sénile et tremblante.^[9][2][6]
2. (medicine) Caused by the degeneration that comes with old age: démence sénile, involution sénile.^[9][2][7]
3. senile: showing a decline of the mental faculties because of age: À quatre-vingt-quinze ans, mon grand-père n'était pas sénile.^[9][2][1]

Word family

• sénilité

Related words

• sénescent
• sénescence
• seigneur
• sénat
• Latin senex

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 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 f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert