signal

Forms

signal m (plural signaux)^[1] Old French seignal, seignau (plural seignaulz, still found in the 15th century).^[2][3] Middle French signiau, signeau, sinal and signail are recorded before signal (1552).^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French seignal, inherited from Late Latin signāle (“sign”), the neuter of signālis (“serving as a sign”) used as a noun, from Latin signum (“sign”), with the spelling remodelled after signe.^[2][3][4] The DHLF calls it a borrowing from Late Latin and compares Old Occitan sennal (1174).^[5] Littré notes that Old French also had signacle, from signāculum.^[6]

Cognate with Italian segnale, Spanish señal, Catalan senyal and Portuguese sinal.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old French seignal is recorded from about 1209 in the Bible of Guiot de Provins as the quillon of a sword.^[2] It is found from 1265–66 in the Assises de Jérusalem as a seal on a document.^[2][7] A form signiau meaning a distinctive mark is found early in the 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In medieval use the word named natural or conventional marks that carry information: a seal, a constellation (about 1265), a mark branded on an animal or a mark on the skin (about 1298), the large bead of a rosary (1328).^[5] Marco Polo's book has seignal for a fire lit as a signal.^[6][7]

From 1540 it means a sign agreed on to show when to act, as in Herberay des Essarts' Amadis (pour faire signail).^[2][5] Montaigne uses it figuratively for a token of feeling (1563–72).^[2] It came to mean a fact that marks the start of a process (1718), with donner le signal (1798).^[2][5] Technical uses followed: a floating buoy marking nets (1769), a reference point in surveying (1813), the international code of signals at sea (1868), railway signals (1856, 1875), telecommunications (1902) and computing (about 1970).^[5][2][7]

In African French the word was used for the token of disapproval given to pupils caught speaking an African language at school.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1209 – Seignal “quillon of a sword” appears in Guiot de Provins.^[2]
• 1265–66 – It means a seal in the Assises de Jérusalem.^[2]
• c. 1298 – The Livre of Marco Polo uses it for a signal fire.^[7][6]
• 1540 – It means an agreed sign for action.^[2][5]
• 1552 – The spelling signal is recorded by Robert Estienne.^[7][4]
• 1718 – It means a fact that announces an action.^[2]
• 1798 – Donner le signal is recorded by the Académie.^[5][7]
• 1856 – It names a railway safety device.^[2]
• 1902 – It is used in telecommunications.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sign agreed on, such as a gesture or sound, showing when to act: Au signal du chef, ils partirent.^[8][9]
2. Donner le signal de: to set off, to start an action or event.^[8][5]
3. A fact that marks or announces the start of a process.^[8][2]
4. A conventional sign or device for conveying information at a distance, especially in traffic, on railways and at sea.^[8][2]
5. (telecommunications) A physical quantity that carries information, such as an electric or radio signal.^[2][7]
6. (psychology) A stimulus that triggers a conditioned response.^[8]

Word family

• signalisation

Related words

• signe
• signaler
• signalé
• Latin signum

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 n o p q r s 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 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 e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 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 d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)