missile French · revision 15878

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1636, Mersenne; modern sense 1949|origins=la mittō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mi.sil/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''missile''' ''m'' (plural missiles)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ In its modern sense it is [[bor|en|missile]] (1945),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) itself from [[la|missile|t=missile weapon]], the neuter of [[m|la|missilis|t=that can be thrown]], from [[m|la|mittō|t=to send, throw]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|6/2, 173b) Rey notes that the English word does not seem to have come from Middle French.^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary treats the word as inherited from Middle French.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ French had earlier borrowed the Latin word directly: the noun “projectile” in 1636 and a Middle French adjective “missile” “thrown (of weapons)” from the late 15th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Mersenne uses it in 1636 for a projectile, “l'impression donnée au missile soit avec la main, le canon ou autrement”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ This learned noun was rarely used and did not last;^(DHLF 1992) the adjective was revived in ''armes missiles'' in 1840 and then disappeared.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The modern sense, a self-propelled projectile guided by homing or remote control, is recorded in 1949 (''Nouveau Larousse universel''),^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) replacing ''engin'' in many uses.^(DHLF 1992) Compounds include ''antimissile'' (1960) and ''lance-missiles'' (1971), and ''missilier'' (1970) is a missile specialist.^(DHLF 1992) In slang it can mean a very attractive woman.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 15th century – Middle French adjective ''missile'' “thrown”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1636 – “Projectile” in Mersenne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1840 – ''Armes missiles'' in the Académie supplement.^(TLFi)

+ * 1945 – English ''missile'' in the modern sense.^(TLFi)

+ * 1949 – The modern sense in French.^(TLFi)

+ * 1960 – ''Antimissile''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A self-propelled guided [[m|en|missile]]: ''missile balistique'', ''missile de croisière'', ''missile sol-air''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(medicine)'' ''Médicament-missile'': a drug modified to reach a specific target.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Any [[m|en|projectile]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''(slang)'' A very attractive woman.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mettre]]

+ * [[mission]]

+ * [[la|missilis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}