Etymologically
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uniforme

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /y.ni.fɔʁm/[1]

Forms

uniforme (plural uniformes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ūnifōrmis (“simple, of one form”), a word of the imperial period,[2][3][4][5] compounded of Latin ūnus (“one”) (see un) and Latin fōrma (“form”) (see forme).[2][3] “Uniformité” was borrowed at the same time from Latin “uniformitas”.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Oresme's translation of Aristotle's De caelo (about 1370) has le mouvement est uniforme, motion without variation;[2][3] the Grand Robert and Petit Robert date mouvement uniforme in Oresme to 1361.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In 1459 it described what has the same form, and in the classical period it meant “concordant, unanimous” (Retz, 1657) and “unanimously accepted” (1680), senses now gone.[2][3] Boileau (1674) used it for what is always the same and shows no diversity, a sense still alive (une vie uniforme).[2][3]

The adjective was used in habit uniforme (about 1700, Saint-Simon; 1718) for dress prescribed for a military unit, and the noun uniforme replaced it (1709, uniforme du régiment, 1759).[3][4] By extension it named compulsory dress for any group (1750), and the military uniform stood for the army (1817).[3] Uniformiser dates from 1728 and uniformisation from 1824.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1370 – Mouvement uniforme in Oresme.[2]
  • c. 1380 – Uniformeement.[3]
  • 1459 – “Of the same form”.[2]
  • 1657 – “Unanimous”, in Retz.[2]
  • 1674 – Boileau's stile uniforme.[2]
  • 1709 – The noun uniforme.[3]
  • 1728 – Uniformiser.[3]
  • 1750 – Dress for a non-military group.[3]
  • 1817 – L'uniforme “the army”.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Uniform, alike, with all parts the same: des immeubles uniformes.[7][8]
  2. Unvarying, monotonous: une vie uniforme, un ciel uniforme et gris.[7][8]
  3. (physics) Mouvement uniforme: uniform motion.[7][9]

Noun

  1. A uniform: l'uniforme scolaire, en uniforme.[1][10]
  2. (figurative) Military life, the army: endosser, quitter l'uniforme.[3][10]

Word family

  • uniformément
  • uniformiser
  • uniformisation
  • uniformité

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 43a
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)