cellule French · revision 17596

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1429|origins=la cella}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɛ.lyl/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /se.lyl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cellule''' ''f'' (plural cellules)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|cellula|t=small room]], a diminutive of [[m|la|cella|t=room, storeroom]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In late Latin the word was used for a prisoner's cell (before 410) and, in Christian texts, for a monk's dwelling;^(DHLF 1992) Medieval Latin already gave it technical senses in anatomy (1110–1120) and botany (1256–1260).^(DHLF 1992) The inherited outcome of [[m|la|cella]] is [[celle]] in place names such as La Celle, and the same word gave [[cellier]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1429; the first dated text in the TLFi, ''Amadis'' (1541), uses it for a monk's room in a monastery.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Furetière in 1690 records the small lodging of each cardinal in a conclave.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The anatomist Champier uses it in 1503 for a small cavity in an organ, and it was later used for the cells of a honeycomb.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The prison cell appears in 1801, and later the isolation room of a hospital.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The biological sense, the basic unit of living things, is in Dutrochet in 1824, after the botanists' metaphor, used in English by Hooke (1665) for cork.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In 1904 it was used for the airframe of an aircraft, and in the 20th century for the photoelectric cell, the family as a unit of society, and the basic unit of a political party.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1429 – First recorded.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1503 – A cavity in an organ, in Champier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1541 – A monk's cell, in ''Amadis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – The lodging of a cardinal in conclave, in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1801 – A prison cell.^(TLFi)

+ * 1824 – The biological cell, in Dutrochet.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small room for one person; a monk's or nun's [[m|en|cell]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A prison cell: ''être en cellule''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(biology)'' The basic structural and functional unit of living things: ''cellule végétale'', ''cellule souche''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' A cavity that encloses something; the cell of a honeycomb, an [[alvéole|alt=alveolus]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''(technology)'' A unit that produces energy: ''cellule photoélectrique'', ''cellule solaire''; the airframe of an aircraft.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A basic unit within a larger body: ''la cellule familiale'', ''une cellule de crise'', the cells of a political party.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cellulaire]]

+ * [[celluleux]]

+ * [[cellulose]]

+ * [[cellulite]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cellier]]

+ * [[la|cella]]

+ * [[en|cell]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}