spire

Forms

spire f (plural spires)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin spīra (“coil, spiral, base of a column”), itself from Ancient Greek σπεῖρα (speîra, “coil, anything wound”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Rey connects the Greek word with a root meaning “to wrap, fold”, also behind the Greek words that gave spart and sportule;^[3] the GLLF instead derives it from σπείρω (speírō, “to sow, scatter”).^[6]

The first date differs between sources: 1547 in Martin's translation of Vitruvius (TLFi), 1548 in the accounts of the king's buildings (GLLF, DHLF) and 1567 (Bloch and Wartburg).^[2][6][3][7] The related spirale is derived from the adjective spiral (1534), taken from Medieval Latin spīrālis.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It was first an architectural term, in Martin's 1547 translation of Vitruvius, for the base of a column whose profile winds like a serpent.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

From architecture it passed to geometry: in 1579 the translator F. de Foix used it for one turn of a spiral, and in 1771 the Trévoux dictionary noted that it was used of the spiral line in general but more commonly of one of its turns.^[2][3] In 1765 the Encyclopédie applied it to the coils of a shell.^[2][3] Through confusion between the spiral and the helix it came to name any turn of a winding, and in 1872 it was specialized in electricity for the turns of a coil.^[3][6] Littré still records a debate over whether spire named the whole helix or one of its turns, noting that the Académie's sense of a single turn was prevailing.^[5]

Its derivatives are technical: spiriforme (1842) and the antibiotic name spiramycine (mid-20th century).^[3]

Timeline

• 1547 – First recorded as an architectural term in Martin's translation of Vitruvius.^[2]
• 1548 – Recorded in the accounts of the king's buildings.^[6][3]
• 1579 – A translation by de Foix uses it for a turn of a spiral.^[2][6]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie uses it for the coils of a shell.^[2]
• 1771 – The Trévoux dictionary records the geometrical sense.^[2][6]
• 1842 – Spiriforme is first recorded.^[3]
• 1872 – Specialized in electricity for the turns of a coil.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geometry) One complete turn of a spiral or helix.^[2][8][6]
2. One turn of a winding, as of a spring, a staircase or a coil: les spires d'un solénoïde.^[2][8][6]
3. (zoology) The whole of the coils of a spiral shell.^[2][8]
4. (by metonymy) A spiral.^[2]
5. (architecture, historical) The base of a column whose profile winds like a serpent.^[3][6]

Word family

• spiriforme

Related words

• spirale
• Latin spīra
• Ancient Greek σπεῖρα (speîra)

Usage notes

The phrase tour de spire “turn of a spiral” is current.^[2][5]

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