Etymologically
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type

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Pronunciation

Forms

type m (plural types)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin typus (“figure, image; model; type”), taken over about 1380, from Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos, “impression of a blow; mark; figure, model”), derived from τύπτω (túptō, “to strike”).[2][3][4][5][6][1] The Greek word was first a technical term for the hollow or raised impression left by striking a die, then the emblem on it, a seal or a relief, and later any form, figure or outline; in the Septuagint it meant “model, example”.[2][4] Rey connects “túptō” with an Indo-European root “*(s)teu-” “to strike”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 14th century in a Latin–French glossary, the Aalma, glossing tipus as “figure, form, state, likeness”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Middle French took it in abstract senses: from the vocabulary of exegesis, a person or event of the Old Testament prefiguring the New (1531), and, from Plato, the ideal form of a thing (before 1596).[3][2][4] In printing it named a piece of type (1545).[7] Buffon used it in 1778 for the form of a species, and Restif de la Bretonne in 1776 for the perfect example of a quality (le type de la beauté); in art it named an ideal model (1777) and in literature a character embodying a class of people (1811).[3]

In popular speech un type means “a guy, a fellow” (about 1845), whence typesse (1888).[4] As an adjective placed after a noun, it means “typical, model”: un contrat type.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – Tipe in the Aalma glossary.[3][2]
  • 1531 – A type in theology.[3][7]
  • 1545 – A printing type.[7]
  • Before 1596 – A Platonic form, in Vigenère.[3]
  • 1778 – The type of a species, in Buffon.[3]
  • c. 1845 – Un type “a guy”.[4]
  • 1888 – Typesse.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A type, kind or sort: ce type de voiture.[1][7]
  2. A perfect example or model: le type même du savant.[3]
  3. A set of features typical of a group: le type méditerranéen.[3]
  4. (familiar) A guy, a fellow: un chic type.[4][1]
  5. (printing) A typeface, (numismatics) the figure on a coin.[7]
  6. (theology) A figure of the Old Testament prefiguring the New.[3][4]

Adjective

  1. Typical, standard: une lettre type.[1]

Word family

  • typé
  • typique
  • typesse
  • typographie
  • prototype
  • stéréotype
  • Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 460b
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert