suffocation

Forms

suffocation f (plural suffocations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin suffōcātiō (“choking, suffocation”), from suffōcō (“to choke”), the source of suffoquer.^[2][3][4][1] Anglo-Norman had suffocation, with the spellings soffocacion and suffocaciun, from the first half of the 13th century.^[5]

Littré compares Old Occitan suffocacio, Spanish sufocación and Italian suffocazione.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Continental French first records it about 1380, in the Latin–French glossary Aalma, for a state in which breathing is cut off.^[2][4] The Anglo-Norman word, earlier, meant a stifling or restriction, and also hysteria (Latin suffocatio hysterica).^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the Latin sense, following the development of the verb suffoquer.^[7] In classical medicine it was used of a great difficulty in breathing put down to hysteria: suffocation de l'amarri “of the womb” (1538), suffocation de la matrice (1600), a translation of Latin suffocatio muliebris, and then suffocation hystérique (1690).^[7]

From the 19th century it also named, in medicine, an asphyxia caused by a mechanical obstacle in the airways: the TLFi dates this sense 1830, the DHLF 1855.^[2][7] Littré described it as a term of forensic medicine, for asphyxia by compression of the chest or by blocking the mouth and nostrils.^[6]

Timeline

• 1200s – Anglo-Norman suffocaciun is recorded.^[5]
• c. 1380 – First continental record, in the Aalma glossary.^[2][4]
• 1538 – Suffocation de l'amarri, a fit of breathlessness put down to the womb.^[7]
• 1690 – Suffocation hystérique.^[7]
• 1830 – The sense “asphyxia caused by a foreign body in the airways” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The fact of suffocating; difficulty in breathing, or a brief stop in breathing: une crise de suffocation.^[8][2]
2. (medicine) Asphyxia caused by a mechanical obstacle in the airways or over the mouth and nose.^[8][2][6]

Related words

• suffoquer
• suffocant
• étouffement
• Latin suffōcātiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert