typographie

Forms

typographie f (plural typographies)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French typographe + -ie, compare New Latin typographia (“art of printing”), recorded in 16th-century Latin from 1520.^[2][1] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert analyse it as typo- and -graphie.^[3][4] The base noun (1554) is made of Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos, “mark, impression, engraved character”) and γράφω (gráphō, “I write”), compare New Latin typographus (1488).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in 1572 in the correspondence of the printer Christophe Plantin, is in the sense “printing house”, in the phrase prototypographie Royale; in 1573 Plantin also uses it for the art of printing.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In the sense “printing house” the word was rare until the 19th century, as imprimerie was the usual term;^[2] imprimerie also competed with it for the art of printing, and the Trévoux dictionary of 1721 is the first to record it.^[2] In 1782 Mercier uses it for the way a work is printed, its type and layout.^[2][6]

In the modern technical sense, typographie is printing from raised type set up in pages, as opposed to printing from engraved plates and to flat processes such as lithographie and offset.^[2][4] The familiar clipping typo is used both for the printer and for the art.^[5][2] English borrowed the word as typography in the 1640s.^[7]

Timeline

• 1520 – Latin typographia “art of printing” is recorded.^[2]
• 1554 – Tipographe “compositor” is first recorded, in Belleforest.^[2]
• 1572 – Plantin uses prototypographie for a royal printing house.^[2]
• 1573 – Plantin uses typographie for the art of printing.^[2][6]
• 1640s – English typography is borrowed from French.^[7]
• 1721 – The Trévoux dictionary is the first to record the word.^[2]
• 1782 – Mercier uses it for the way a work is printed.^[2][6]
• 1845 – Typographier is derived from it.^[6]
• 1874 – Phototypographie names a photoengraving process.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The techniques of reproducing texts by printing from assembled types in relief, as opposed to offset and other transfer processes; especially typesetting.^[4][8][2]
2. The way a text is printed: the choice of typeface, the layout: la typographie de ce recueil est très soignée.^[4][2]
3. The part of a printing works where the type is set.^[9]

Word family

• typographier
• phototypographie

Related words

• typographe
• typographique
• typo
• imprimerie
• English typography

References

1. ^ a b c 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse