suture

Forms

suture f (plural sutures)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sūtūra (“sewing, seam, suture of the skull”), a medical word in Latin,^[2][3][4][1] from sūtum, the supine of suō (“to sew”), which was replaced by the compound consuō, source of coudre².^[3][5] Wiktionary compares the inherited couture.^[1] Littré cites Spanish sutura and Italian sutura.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1540, in P. Tolet's translation of the surgery of Paul of Aegina, for the joining of the lips of a wound.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In anatomy it took the Latin sense of a jagged joint between two bones, especially of the skull, recorded from 1559 and in Paré about 1560, who calls it “une composition d'os faite à la semblance des choses cousues” (a joining of bones made in the likeness of sewn things).^[2][3][6] In 1760 it was used for the line of junction between parts of insects and shells, and in botany for the line along which a fruit opens.^[2][3]

Féraud recorded a figurative sense in 1788, the joining of two separated parts, first of a written work.^[2][3][7] Points de suture is recorded in 1893, and about 1960 Lacan gave the word a special sense in psychoanalysis.^[3][7] It gave sutural (1803) and suturer (1865).^[2]

Timeline

• 1540 – Tolet uses it for the joining of the lips of a wound.^[2][3]
• 1559 – Falcon uses it for the jagged joint of two bones.^[2]
• 1760 – Brisson uses it for a line of junction in insects and shells.^[2][3]
• 1788 – Féraud records the figurative sense.^[2][7]
• 1803 – The adjective sutural is recorded.^[2]
• 1865 – The verb suturer is recorded.^[2]
• 1893 – Points de suture is recorded.^[3][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (surgery) The joining with thread of parts divided by an injury or an operation, a stitch: points de suture.^[8][2][1]
2. (anatomy) An immovable joint between two bones joined by fibrous tissue: les sutures du crâne.^[8][2]
3. (science) A visible line where two organs or parts join, as in a fruit.^[8][2]
4. (figurative) The joining of two parts that were separated, especially in a written work.^[7][2]

Word family

• suturer
• sutural

Related words

• couture
• coudre²
• Latin sūtūra

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert