vagin

Forms

vagin m (plural vagins)^[1] First in the Latin form vagina (1668 according to Rey and the GLLF, 1674 in the TLFi); an earlier borrowing vagine (1611) kept the Latin senses “sheath of a sword” and “husk of grain”.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vāgīna (“sheath, scabbard”), a learned borrowing used first in its Latin form and then adapted.^[4][2][1] The Latin word gave gaine by inheritance, so the two are doublets.^[2][1][5] The anatomical use began as a physicians' euphemism, calling the organ a sheath.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

N. de Blégny wrote of la membrane qui forme le Vagina in 1674 and of l'entrée du vagin in 1676, in works on venereal disease and hernias.^[4] The Grand Robert and the GLLF date vagin to Richelet in 1680, and Bloch and Wartburg to 1710.^[6][3][7]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its anatomical sense, the canal from the uterus to the vulva in women and female mammals.^[2][8] It produced learned medical terms: vaginal (before 1718, first in the sense “sheath-like”, then from 1778 “of the vagina”), vaginite (1833) and vaginisme (1868), and the combining form vagino-.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1611 – Vagine is borrowed in the Latin senses “scabbard” and “husk”.^[2]
• 1668 – The Latin form vagina is used in French.^[2][3]
• 1676 – Blégny writes vagin.^[4]
• 1680 – Richelet records vagin.^[3][6]
• 1778 – Vaginal comes to mean “of the vagina”.^[2]
• 1868 – Vaginisme appears in a medical journal.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) The vagina: the muscular canal from the uterus to the vulva in women and female mammals.^[8][4][1]

Word family

• vaginal
• invaginer
• vaginite
• vaginisme

Related words

• gaine
• Latin vagina

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert