turbine

Forms

turbine f (plural turbines)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin turbō (“whirlwind, spinning top”).^[2][3][4][5] Rey describes it as borrowed several times over, in 1534, again in the 17th century and once more in 1822.^[3] The Latin noun is derived from turba (“disorder, turmoil”) and named both a rapid circular movement and the things that turn in that way: a whirlwind, a waterspout, a top, a spindle whorl.^[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rabelais uses it in Gargantua (1534) for a whirlwind or hurricane, in les halotz et les turbines.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The 16th-century word for a whirlwind did not last; in the 17th century it was taken again for a shell shaped like a spinning top (1649, with turbin in 1611).^[3] Technical French took it up a third time in 1822 for a wheel with blades driven by flowing water, later by steam or gas, that passes its motion on to a machine;^[2][3] the Grand Robert ties this sense to Fourneyron in 1823.^[6] The meaning followed the machines: turbine à vapeur is recorded in 1904 and turbine à gaz in 1943.^[2][3]

Two side uses appeared around 1900: in slang turbine meant work (1879, Huysmans), and in sugar refining it named the centrifuge that separates sugar from syrup (1907).^[2] English took turbine from French in 1838.^[7]

Timeline

• 1534 – Rabelais uses turbines for whirlwinds in Gargantua.^[2][3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the word.^[2]
• 1649 – It names a top-shaped shell.^[3]
• 1822 – Burdin writes on turbines hydrauliques.^[2]
• 1838 – English borrows turbine.^[7]
• 1879 – Huysmans uses it in slang for work.^[2]
• 1904 – Turbine à vapeur is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1907 – It names the centrifuge of a sugar refinery.^[2]
• 1943 – Turbine à gaz is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A turbine: a rotary device with blades that uses the force of a moving fluid (water, steam or gas) and passes the motion on through a shaft.^[8][2]
2. Turbine à gaz, turbine à vapeur: a gas turbine, a steam turbine.^[2][8]
3. (technical) In a sugar refinery, a centrifuge that separates sugar from syrup.^[2]
4. (slang, dated) Work.^[2]

Word family

• turbiner

Related words

• Latin turbō
• English turbine

Usage notes

Littré also records turbine for a small rood loft in some churches, where one could sit without being seen.^[9] The Grand Robert explains this 18th-century form as an alteration of tribune, and the FEW files it under Latin tribūna.^[6][10]

References

1. ^ a b 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 q 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. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 423a
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 254b