vertèbre

Forms

vertèbre f (plural vertèbres)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vertebra (“joint, vertebra”), derived from vertō (“to turn”).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin verb also gave French verser.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi first finds it about 1370 in the French translation of Guy de Chauliac's Chirurgie.^[2] The DHLF and the Grand Robert date it about 1363, the Petit Robert before 1478, and Bloch and Wartburg 1534.^[3][7][6][4] It meant, as today, each of the bones of the spine.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed that of the anatomical term.^[3] Littré quotes Paré in the 16th century: la mouelle et les rouelles ou vertebres.^[8] The word gave vertébral (1674) and, in zoology, vertébré (1800), the class that Cuvier (1805) and Lamarck (1806) made basic to the classification of animals.^[3][4]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – First record, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac.^[2]
• 16th century – Paré uses vertebres.^[8]
• 1674 – The adjective vertébral appears.^[3][4]
• 1765 – intervertébral appears.^[3]
• 1800 – vertébré appears in zoology.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) A vertebra, each of the short bones that make up the colonne vertébrale: vertèbres cervicales, vertèbres lombaires.^[6][2]
2. (zoology) The central calcareous piece of a segment of a brittle star's arm.^[2]

Word family

• vertébral
• vertébré
• intervertébral
• invertébré

Related words

• verser
• Latin vertebra

Usage notes

Se déplacer une vertèbre means to dislocate a vertebra.^[2][6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e 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, 317b
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette