Etymologically
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industrialis

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Forms

industriālis (neuter industriāle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin industria (“diligence, skill”) + -ālis.[2][1][3] Köbler and the MLW treat it as a Medieval Latin formation.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The MLW's first example is a document of 1238 in the Acta imperii, which divides produce into what comes from nature and what comes from human work: tam omnium nātūrālium quam industriālium, “both all the natural and the industrial”.[2][1]

Semantic evolution

It was used above all of produce, in the pair frūctūs nātūrālēs and frūctūs industriālēs.[2][3][4] A Polish text quoted by the eLexicon Polonorum explains that grain, oil, milk and wool are “industrial” fruits, gained by human effort, while apples, nuts and cherries are natural ones, which come from nature without much human work;[3] a Hungarian grant gives a castle with all its fruits, “industrial or natural”.[4] Du Cange defines it as “relating to industry or skill” and quotes a charter of 1400 from the archives of Monte Cassino, by which the inhabitants of a castle owe yearly tithes “personal or industrial”.[5] The Lexicon Bohemorum also records it in the sense “needing cultivation”.[6]

English industrial, first “resulting from labour”, came from it through French in 1774; its modern sense “of manufactures” is a further borrowing from French, from 1830.[7]

Timeline

  • 1238 – A document in the Acta imperii contrasts natural and industrial produce.[2][1]
  • 1400 – A charter from Monte Cassino names personal or industrial tithes.[5]
  • 1774 – English industrial “resulting from labour” is recorded, through French.[7]
  • 1830 – English takes the sense “of manufactures” from French.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Medieval Latin) Produced by human work or skill, not by nature alone;[2][3][4][1] frūctūs industriālēs: crops and produce gained by labour.[2][3][4][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Relating to industry, work or skill; industrial.[5][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Needing cultivation.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  4. ^ a b c d Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
  5. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  6. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
  7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson