vaginal

Forms

vaginal (feminine vaginale, masculine plural vaginaux, feminine plural vaginales)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French vagin + -al.^[2][3][4][5] Vagin is a borrowing of Latin vāgīna (“sheath”), and the adjective first had that Latin word's sense.^[5][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dionis, before 1718, uses it in anatomy in the sense “sheathing, forming a protective case”, in tunique vaginale.^[2][6] The GLLF and the Grand Robert date this sense “shaped like a sheath” to Furetière's dictionary of 1727.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Later in the 18th century (1778) it came to mean “of the vagina”,^[2][6] a sense the GLLF dates to the Académie's dictionary of 1762.^[4] The older sense survives in anatomical terms such as apophyse vaginale (1814).^[2][7]

In the 20th century (Choisy, 1950) it left the strictly medical field in orgasme vaginal, set against clitoridien, and was applied to women themselves (une vaginale).^[6][8]

Timeline

• Before 1718 – Dionis writes tunique vaginale.^[2][6]
• 1727 – Furetière records it in the sense “sheath-shaped”.^[4][3]
• 1762 – The Académie gives the sense “of the vagina”, according to the GLLF.^[4][3]
• 1778 – The TLFi's first record of the sense “of the vagina”.^[2][6]
• 1814 – Nysten records apophyse vaginale.^[2]
• 1950 – Choisy uses it outside medicine, of eroticism and orgasm.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to the vagina: muqueuse vaginale.^[8][4][7]
2. (anatomy) Tunique vaginale, or simply la vaginale: the serous membrane that encloses the testicle.^[2][8][4]
3. (anatomy) Apophyse vaginale: a bony ridge of the temporal bone that sheathes the base of the styloid process.^[7][4]
4. Said of a woman whose sexuality is centred on the vagina, opposed to clitoridienne; also as a noun, une vaginale.^[8][6]

Related words

• vagin
• invaginer
• Latin vāgīna

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 c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
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 g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert