fusion French · revision 15889

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1547, Jean Martin|origins=la fundō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fy.zjɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fusion''' ''f'' (plural fusions)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|fūsiō|t=a pouring out, (Late Latin) melting of metals]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|3, 914a) from [[m|la|fūsum]], the supine of [[m|la|fundō|t=to pour; to melt]], the source of [[fondre]].^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) It is a doublet of the inherited [[foison]].^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The sense “nuclear fusion” follows English, where “atom fusion” is recorded in 1947.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Jean Martin's translation of Vitruvius (1547) has it once in the Latin sense “diffusion, scattering” (''fusio stellarum'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Bodin (1578) used it for the melting of metals, the passage of a solid to the liquid state under heat, and the word also named the state of a melted body (''métal en fusion'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Furetière (1690) records the sense “dissolution in a liquid”.^(TLFi) By metaphor it came to mean a close union (Mercier, 1801, Madame de Staël), the merger of companies (1853, Labiche) and, in linguistics, the fusion of elements (1943).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992) ''Fusion nucléaire'' dates from the 1950s (1954–1956).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ The verb ''fusionner'' (1802) is used only figuratively, and ''fusionnel'' (1921), after English ''fusional'', is common in psychology.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1547 – “Diffusion”, in Jean Martin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1578 – “Melting”, in Bodin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – “Dissolution”, in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1801 – “Close union”, in Mercier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1853 – A merger of companies, in Labiche.^(TLFi)

+ * 1956 – ''Fusion nucléaire''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|melting|alt=Melting]], the passage from solid to liquid: ''point de fusion'', ''en fusion'': molten.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ # ''(physics)'' Nuclear [[m|en|fusion]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A merger, union: ''la fusion de deux sociétés'', ''la fusion des partis''.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+ # A blending, mixture: ''fusion des cultures''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(biology)'' Fusion of chromosomes or nuclei.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fusionner]]

+ * [[fusionner]]

+ * [[fusionnel]]

+ * [[surfusion]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fondre]]

+ * [[foison]]

+ * [[la|fūsiō]]

+ * [[en|fusion]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}