urée

Forms

urée f (plural urées)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French urine, formed on its stem ⟨ur-⟩ with the suffix -ée.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The word is found once in the 14th century and was taken up again in 1797 by the chemist Fourcroy, whom Bloch and Wartburg name as its creator.^[2][7][8] The base goes back to Latin ūrīna.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its isolated first record is in Guy de Chauliac's Grande chirurgie (about 1370; the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it about 1363).^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed rare until the end of the 18th century; it became a term of chemistry when Fourcroy used it in 1797 for the crystalline substance found in urine.^[4][2][7][8] Derivatives followed: urate (1798), urique (1803) and urémie, first used by the physician Piorry in 1847.^[7] The DHLF dates urique to 1803 as well, but forms it on the stem of urine.^[8]

English urea (1806) is a Latinized form of the French word.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – Isolated record in Guy de Chauliac's Grande chirurgie.^[2]
• 1797 – Fourcroy uses the word in chemistry.^[2][7][8]
• 1798 – Urate is recorded.^[7]
• 1803 – Urique is recorded.^[7][8]
• 1806 – English urea is recorded.^[10]
• 1846 – Uréthane is formed from urée and éthane.^[8]
• 1847 – Piorry uses urémie.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (biochemistry) urea, a crystalline substance, the end product of the breakdown of amino acids, made by the liver and passed out in the urine.^[2][5]
2. (chemistry) The same substance made industrially by synthesis, used especially as a fertilizer and in making plastics.^[2][4]

Word family

• urate
• urique
• urémie
• uréthane

Related words

• urine
• Latin ūrīna

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 62b
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com