vertigo

Forms

vertigo m (plural vertigos)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vertīgō (“whirling, dizziness”),^[1][3][4][5] taken over in its Latin form,^[1][3] from vertō (“to turn”).^[1][6] The same Latin word, through its oblique stem, gave vertige, recorded from 1611.^[1][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1478, in the Guidon en françois (after Guy de Chauliac), meaning dizziness.^[1][9][10] Ambroise Paré, in the 16th century, describes the illness called scotomie ou vertigo as a sudden dimming of the sight.^[4][10]

Semantic evolution

The medical sense “dizziness” did not last in French, though it remains the usual sense of the English word vertigo.^[5] From 1622–1633, in Tabarin, it was used figuratively for a fit of folly, a whim or caprice,^[1][5] a sense found in Molière (Voyez un peu quel vertigo lui prend) and Marivaux, which went out of use in the 19th century.^[9][2][5]

In 1664 Solleysel's Parfait Mareschal used it for a disease of horses that makes them turn in circles,^[1] the sense the Académie gave from 1798.^[1] In familiar use it came back to mean dizziness, “the spins” (1903, in Colette).^[5][1]

Timeline

• 1478 – First recorded, in the sense “dizziness”, in N. Panis's Guidon en françois.^[1]
• 1622–1633 – Tabarin uses it for a whim or fit of folly.^[1][5]
• 1664 – Solleysel uses it for a disease of horses.^[1][5]
• 1903 – Colette uses it familiarly for dizziness.^[1][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (veterinary) A disease of the horse, an inflammation of the brain that makes the animal turn round and move erratically.^[2][1]
2. (figurative, dated) A whim, caprice or sudden fit of folly: avoir le vertigo.^[2][1][4]
3. (familiar, dated) Dizziness, vertige.^[1]

Related words

• vertige
• vertigineux
• Latin vertīgō
• English vertigo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
2. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 327a
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF