symétrique

Forms

symétrique (plural symétriques)^[1] First written symmetrique (1529); the spelling with a single ⟨m⟩ dates from the 18th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French symétrie + -ique.^[2][1][4] symétrie is from Latin symmetria, itself taken from Ancient Greek συμμετρία (summetría, “due proportion”), a compound of σύν (sún, “with, together”) and μέτρον (métron, “measure”).^[4] Littré compares the Greek adjective συμμετρικός (summetrikós).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as symmetrique in 1529 in Tory's Champ fleury,^[2][6] first in architecture in the sense “well proportioned, harmonious”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The adjective developed alongside the noun symétrie.^[7] From 1765 (Diderot) it described two similar things placed opposite each other, and a thing whose two halves match.^[7][6] It became a term of algebra and the natural sciences (1845) and of geometry (1875), and is used figuratively of ideas or arguments that answer each other.^[7] The older sense “regular, well ordered” is now old or literary.^[8] As a noun, le symétrique of a point or figure is recorded from 1876.^[7]

Timeline

• 1529 – Symmetrique appears in Tory's Champ fleury.^[2]
• 1765 – Diderot uses it of two similar and opposite things.^[6][7]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records a sense in algebra.^[6]
• 1875 – Used in geometry.^[7]
• 1876 – First used as a noun in geometry.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (old or literary) Regular, well proportioned.^[8]
2. Symmetric, symmetrical: having two matching halves, or placed in symétrie with something else: les deux ailes symétriques d'un château.^[8][1]
3. (mathematics) Of a function, relation or figure, having the property of symmetry.^[6][7]
4. (figurative) Corresponding point by point.^[8]

Noun

1. (geometry) The symmetrical counterpart of a point or figure.^[7]

Word family

• symétriquement
• antisymétrique

Related words

• symétrie
• asymétrique
• Ancient Greek συμμετρία (summetría)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
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 c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert