normal French · revision 16554

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1450–65, Charles d'Orléans (verbe normal)|origins=la nōrma}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /nɔʁ.mal/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''normal''' (feminine normale, masculine plural normaux, feminine plural normales)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|nōrmālis|t=made with a carpenter's square; conforming to the rule]], derived from [[m|la|nōrma|t=carpenter's square; rule]] (see [[norme]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) In “école normale” the adjective means “serving as a model”, after the Latin sense of “nōrma” “rule of conduct”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Charles d'Orléans' ballad (about 1450–65) speaks of a ''verbe normal, sans conjugacion'', a regular verb; the word then disappeared until the 18th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was taken up again in geometry: ''ligne normale'' (1753) and the noun ''la normale'' (1759), a line perpendicular to a tangent.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The ''écoles normales'' for training teachers date from the Revolution (1790; decree of the year III), and ''l'École normale supérieure'' gave the slang ''Normale'' (1885) and ''normalien'' (1868).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Under the influence of ''norme'', in the 19th century it spread with the senses “serving as a rule” (1803) and “usual, conforming to the average” (1839, Balzac), and in medicine ''état normal'' (1823); the two ideas, quantitative and qualitative, are sometimes confused.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Ne pas être dans son état normal'' is recorded by the Académie in 1878, and ''retour à la normale'' from 1959.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1450–65 – ''Verbe normal'', Charles d'Orléans.^(TLFi)

+ * 1753 – ''Ligne normale'' in geometry.^(TLFi)

+ * 1790 – ''Écoles normales''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1803 – “Serving as a rule”, Boiste.^(TLFi)

+ * 1823 – In anatomy.^(TLFi)

+ * 1839 – “Usual”, Balzac.^(TLFi)

+ * 1868 – ''Normalien''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1959 – ''La normale'', the average.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|normal]], usual, ordinary: ''une journée normale'', ''en temps normal'', ''ce n'est pas normal''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # In a healthy, balanced state: ''il n'est pas dans son état normal''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Natural, to be expected: ''c'est normal'', fair enough, ''(familiar)'' okay.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''École normale'': a teacher-training college, ''École normale supérieure''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' Perpendicular, ''loi normale'', the normal distribution.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''La normale'': the norm, the average: ''au-dessus de la normale'', ''retour à la normale'', ''(geometry)'' a normal.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[normalement]]

+ * [[normalité]]

+ * [[normaliser]]

+ * [[normalisation]]

+ * [[normalien]]

+ * [[anormal]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[norme]]

+ * [[la|nōrma]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}