fibre French · revision 15859

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1372, Corbichon|origins=la fibra}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fibʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fibre''' ''f'' (plural fibres)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|fibra|t=fibre (of plants and animals); lobe of the liver; entrails]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|3, 490a) which in the augurs' language meant a division of the liver, and by extension the entrails and, figuratively, the feelings.^(DHLF 1992) Littré linked it with [[m|la|fiber|t=at the extremity]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[oc|fibra]], [[es|fibra]] and [[it|fibra]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in 1372, in Jean Corbichon's translation of Bartholomew the Englishman's ''De proprietatibus rerum''.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Ambroise Paré (1580) speaks of ''fibres nerveuses'' in the bones.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word kept the Latin sense of a thread-like element of animal or plant tissue (muscle, nerve and wood fibres),^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) and by analogy was used of minerals and of textiles: ''fibre de bois'' (1930), ''fibre de verre'' and ''fibre optique'' (20th century).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) In dietetics ''fibres alimentaires'' are the parts of plant foods not digested, a use encouraged by advertising after English ''fibre''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ From ''fibres nerveuses'', or as a Latinism, the plural came to mean the seat of feeling (Chamfort, before 1794), and the singular ''la fibre'' a person's sensibility or deep leaning: ''la fibre champêtre'' (1816), ''la fibre patriotique''.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)^(GLLF 1989) Derivatives include ''fibreux'' (1545), ''fibrille'' (1674) and ''fibrome'' (1856).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1372 – In Corbichon's translation.^(TLFi)

+ * 1545 – ''Racine fibreuse''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1580 – ''Fibres nerveuses'' in Paré.^(TLFi)

+ * Before 1794 – The seat of feeling, in Chamfort.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1816 – ''Je n'ai pas la fibre champêtre''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1856 – ''Fibrome''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1930 – ''Fibre de bois''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|fibre|alt=fiber]], a thread-like element of animal or plant tissue: ''fibre musculaire'', ''les fibres du bois''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # A textile fibre, natural or synthetic.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A manufactured fibre: ''fibre de verre'', ''fibre optique''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' Dietary fibre: ''fibres alimentaires''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Sensibility; a deep leaning or feeling: ''la fibre paternelle'', ''avoir la fibre commerciale''.^(GLLF 1989)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fibreux]]

+ * [[fibrille]]

+ * [[fibrine]]

+ * [[fibrome]]

+ * [[fibranne]]

+ * [[fibroscopie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|fibra]]

+ * [[en|fibre]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}