stériliser

Forms

stériliser^[1] Middle French sterilizer.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French stérile + -iser.^[2][1][4] The base adjective was borrowed in 1370 from Latin sterilis.^[5]

The dates of the verb differ between the sources: the TLFi records it in 1377, in the French translation of Bernard de Gordon's Pratique,^[2] the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert treat a use of 1495 as isolated and date the verb to the end of the 18th century,^[4][6] and Bloch and Wartburg date it to the 18th century (Boufflers), with a first use in 1495.^[5] Rey sees the 14th-century use as isolated and the verb as taken up again in the 18th century.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1377 the translation of Bernard de Gordon's Pratique uses sterilizer both transitively, “to make sterile”, and intransitively, “to become sterile, become impotent”.^[2][7] Littré quotes it: Toutes choses froides sterilizent, si comme laitues, opium et les semblables “all cold things make sterile, such as lettuces, opium and the like”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The medieval sense of making a man impotent died out, and the verb was taken up again at the end of the 18th century in the general sense “to make sterile, strike with sterility” (1797).^[7][8] It was applied to land from 1789 (stériliser les campagnes in Le Moniteur),^[2] a use that is now rare,^[7][6] and figuratively to talent or a subject from 1801 (Mercier), close to “to dry up, impoverish”.^[2][7]

Of a person, the sense “to make permanently sterile” is recorded by Bescherelle in 1845–46;^[2] today the verb mostly means making a woman or an animal temporarily or surgically sterile.^[7] With the rise of bacteriology it took the sense “to free (an object) from germs” (1891, objets stérilisés),^[2] now its everyday sense.^[6] The noun stérilisation is recorded in 1869 and stérilisateur at the end of the 19th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1377 – Sterilizer “to make sterile” and “to become impotent” in the translation of Bernard de Gordon's Pratique.^[2]
• 1495 – An isolated use, stérilizer (a man).^[4][5]
• 1789 – Stériliser les campagnes in Le Moniteur, of land.^[2]
• 1797 – Boufflers uses stériliser in the general sense “to make sterile”.^[8][7]
• 1801 – Mercier uses it figuratively.^[2]
• 1845–46 – Bescherelle records “to make (someone) permanently sterile”.^[2]
• 1869 – First record of the noun stérilisation.^[5]
• 1889 – Bourget uses the pronominal se stériliser figuratively.^[9]
• 1891 – Objets stérilisés, objects whose germs have been destroyed.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (rare) To make (land) barren or unproductive; figuratively, to stifle or dry up (a mind, a talent).^[6][2][8]
2. To make (a person or an animal) sterile, especially by a surgical operation: faire stériliser sa chienne.^[6][2]
3. To sterilize (an object, a liquid) by destroying the germs in it: stériliser des biberons.^[6][1]

Word family

• stérilisation
• stérilisateur

Related words

• stérile
• stérilité
• Latin sterilis

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF