similaire

Forms

similaire (plural similaires)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned formation from Latin similis (“like, resembling”) with the suffix -aire.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary instead takes it from the extended Medieval Latin form similāris.^[1]

Rey traces the Latin adjective to an older form *semilis, whose old neuter survives as the adverb simul (“at the same time”), and links it to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”), which also expressed sameness.^[5][4] In Old Occitan the Latin word gave semble (“alike”), a form seen only rarely in Old French.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1515 as a term of anatomy, “of the same nature”, in Jean Falcon and A. Romeri's Notables sur le Guidon, where a part of the body is called consemblable, ou similaire.^[2] Other dictionaries date it from 1539, in the phrase parties similaires, the basic tissues that make up the body's systems and join to form its organs.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The word began in medicine and anatomy, where it meant “homogeneous, made of like parts”, as in Paré about 1560.^[5][3] In the 18th century it was used in physics, of rays of light, and in mathematics with the sense “proportional”.^[5]

The everyday sense “more or less of the same kind as something else” is recorded by Cotgrave in 1611 but stayed rare until the 19th century.^[2][6][5] Political economy took it up in 1871 for home products of the same kind as imported ones, and it was then also used as a noun.^[5]

English similar (1610s) was taken from the French word.^[7]

Timeline

• 1515 – First recorded in anatomy, “of the same nature”.^[2]
• 1539 – Parties similaires names the basic tissues of the body.^[5][6]
• c. 1560 – Paré uses it for “homogeneous” in anatomy.^[5][3]
• 1610s – English borrows it as similar.^[7]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “like something else”.^[2][6]
• 1721 – Used in physics and in mathematics (“proportional”).^[5]
• 1755 – The derivative similarité appears.^[5]
• 1871 – Taken up in political economy for products of the same kind.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. More or less of the same kind or nature as something else, comparable: des outils similaires.^[8][9][10]
2. (obsolete) Homogeneous, made of parts of the same nature.^[8][6]

Word family

• similarité

Related words

• similitude
• simili
• assimiler
• ensemble
• Latin similis
• English similar

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)