scalpel

Forms

scalpel m (plural scalpels)^[1] Middle French scapel (about 1370), scalpre and scalpelle (1539).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin scalpellum (“lancet, scalpel”), a surgical term already in Latin,^[3][5][2] the diminutive of scalprum (“cutting tool”),^[3][2] from scalpō (“to scratch, carve, engrave”), a verb of unknown origin.^[2][5] The variant ⟨scalpre⟩ is borrowed from the base noun itself.^[3] The TLFi reads ⟨scalpel⟩ beside ⟨scalpre⟩ in the translation of Guy de Chauliac of about 1370, while the DHLF and the Grand Robert give the form there as ⟨scapel⟩ and date ⟨scalpel⟩ from 1539.^[3][2][6] The base noun also gave échoppe “engraving tool”, and the verb belongs with sculpter.^[2]

Compare Spanish escalpelo and Italian scarpello.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears about 1370 in the French translation of Guy de Chauliac's Chirurgie, for a small surgical blade.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed rare until the 18th century.^[2][6] It names the small knife with one or two edges and a flat handle used in dissection and surgery.^[2][3] From 1835 (Gautier) it is used metaphorically of a tool of close psychological analysis.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – The translation of Guy de Chauliac's Chirurgie uses it beside scalpre.^[3][2]
• 1538 – Canappe's revised Guidon has scalpre.^[3]
• 1539 – Canappe uses scalpelle.^[3][4]
• 1704 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux has scalpel.^[3]
• 1835 – Gautier uses it of psychological analysis.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A scalpel, a small knife with a fixed blade and one or two edges, used for dissection and surgery: inciser la peau au scalpel.^[4][3][8]
2. (figurative) A tool of close, unsparing analysis: le scalpel du romancier.^[3][2]

Related words

• échoppe
• sculpter
• Latin scalpellum

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse