vibrant

Forms

vibrant (feminine vibrante, masculine plural vibrants, feminine plural vibrantes)^[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the present participle from French vibrer (“to vibrate”).^[2][3][4][5] The verb is from Latin vibrō (“to brandish, set vibrating”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1747, in the title of d'Alembert's Recherches sur les cordes vibrantes, meaning “in vibration”, of strings.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The adjective began as a learned word of physics for what vibrates, as in cordes vibrantes.^[5] In medicine pouls vibrant named a hard, rapid pulse (1765).^[5][6] Chateaubriand used it figuratively in 1803.^[2]

From 1831 (Balzac) it was applied to a sound that carries far and strikes with force, and voix vibrante is recorded in 1872.^[2][5] In 1835 Balzac used it for what shows strong emotion, the sense now most common in speech and writing.^[2][5] In phonetics a consonne vibrante, or simply une vibrante, is a trilled consonant such as r (1904).^[2][5][3] In 19th-century zoology Littré recorded mouches vibrantes for ichneumon flies, which keep their antennae moving.^[6]

Timeline

• 1747 – D'Alembert's Recherches sur les cordes vibrantes.^[2]
• 1765 – Pouls vibrant in medicine.^[5]
• 1803 – Chateaubriand uses it figuratively.^[2]
• 1831 – Balzac uses it of a sound that carries.^[2]
• 1835 – Balzac uses it of a person stirred by emotion.^[2]
• 1886 – The derivative vibrance is first recorded.^[2]
• 1904 – Vibrante as a phonetic term, in the Nouveau Larousse illustré.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. vibrating, in a state of vibration: lame vibrante, cordes vibrantes.^[7][2]
2. (phonetics) Of a consonant: trilled; as a feminine noun, une vibrante, a trill.^[7][3]
3. Of a sound or voice: resonant, carrying far and heard with force.^[7][3]
4. Showing or stirred by strong emotion: un discours vibrant; of a person, sensitive, emotional.^[7]
5. (medicine, dated) Of the pulse: full, hard and rapid.^[2][6]

Word family

• vibrance

Related words

• vibrer
• vibration
• Latin vibrō

References

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