sérial

Forms

sérial m (plural sérials), also spelled serial^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English serial, first recorded in French in 1921 in the plural, between quotation marks.^[2][3] In English the noun, from the adjective, was applied from 1846 to a work published in instalments, from 1914 to films, then to radio and television works issued in episodes.^[2] The TLFi notes that the English adjective corresponds to the older French adjective of the same form; the GLLF goes further and takes the English word from the French one.^[2][4]

The older French adjective, meaning forming a series, was formed from French série + -al in the 19th century: the TLFi dates it to 1832 (Raymond), the Grand Robert and Rey to 1835.^[2][3][5] It followed sériaire (about 1820) and was itself replaced by sériel.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first found in 1921 in the film magazine Cinémagazine, which speaks of American “sérials” such as Suzy l'Américaine and Les Mystères de la Jungle starring Mary Walcamp: films told in episodes.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective sérial, recorded by Littré in the sense “relating to a series”, gave way in the 19th century to sériel.^[6][5] The noun came back from English with the American cinema of the First World War years, when the TLFi notes such serials were especially common.^[2] The Grand Robert labels it an anglicism of the cinema, used mostly in the plural, and the Larousse of the 1960s entered it as serials, a masculine plural.^[3][2][4] The French Wiktionary describes it as the forerunner of the television series.^[7]

Timeline

• 1832 – Raymond records the adjective sérial “forming a series”.^[2]
• 1835 – The Grand Robert and Rey date the adjective to this year.^[3][5]
• 1921 – Cinémagazine writes of American “sérials”, the first record of the noun.^[2][3]
• 1968 – The Larousse dictionary enters serials as a masculine plural noun.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (cinema) A serial: a film told in episodes, or one film of such a series, especially of the American cinema.^[2][3][7]

Adjective

1. (rare) Relating to a series, forming a series.^[6][7]

Related words

• série
• sériel
• feuilleton
• English serial

Usage notes

The noun is used mostly in the plural, sérials or serials.^[3][2]

References

1. ^ 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. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org