ventral

Forms

ventral (feminine ventrale, masculine plural ventraux, feminine plural ventrales)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ventrālis (“of the belly”),^[2][3][1] from venter (“belly”),^[4][5][6] the source of the inherited ventre.^[4][1] The FEW lists it under this etymon.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in Chauliac's Guidon en françois (about 1370), without a context;^[2][8] the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it about 1363.^[4][5] The phrase hernie ventralle “ventral hernia” is found in 1520.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the Latin sense “of the belly, of the abdomen”, first in anatomy and surgery;^[3][2] in the 16th century Paré wrote of an artery “called coeliac or (if one may say so) ventral”.^[6] In natural history it named the fins placed under a fish's belly.^[6]

In the sciences it also came to mean the lower or front side of an organism or organ, as opposed to dorsal: the botanical suture ventrale is recorded in 1845–46.^[2][3] In the 20th century it was applied to what is worn on the belly, above all the parachute ventral, the reserve parachute, also called le ventral,^[3][9][5] and in sport to the ventral style of high jump (1941, le ventral as a noun in 1967).^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – First recorded in Chauliac's Guidon en françois.^[2]
• 1520 – Hernie ventralle appears.^[2][3]
• 16th century – Paré uses it of an artery.^[6]
• 1845–46 – The botanical suture ventrale is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1941 – Used of a style of high jump.^[2]
• 1964 – The Robert records the parachute ventral.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to the belly or abdomen; on the front or underside of the body, as opposed to dorsal: nageoires ventrales.^[2][9][10]
2. (anatomy, botany) On the lower or inner face of an organ: suture ventrale, the line along which the edges of a folded carpel meet.^[2][5][6]
3. Worn on the belly: parachute ventral, the reserve parachute.^[9][5]
4. (sport) Done face down, as in the ventral roll of the high jump.^[9][2]

Noun

1. Le ventral: a reserve parachute worn on the belly.^[9][3]
2. (sport) The ventral style of high jump.^[2]

Word family

• ventralement

Related words

• ventre
• dorsal
• Latin venter

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 251a
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)