May 1, 2012 17:33
12 yrs ago
5 viewers *
French term
United States
étalonner
French to English
Tech/Engineering
Manufacturing
pharmaceutical packaging
This is a call for proposals for a pharmaceutical product packaging line. They repeatedly use "étalonner" and "calibrer" as if they meant two different things, but I am not sure how to render them. Here is one example:
L’ensemble des chaînes de mesure sera étalonné et/ou calibré avant la FAT [factory acceptance testing] suivant des procédures validées par notre service métrologie.
L’ensemble des chaînes de mesure sera étalonné et/ou calibré avant la FAT [factory acceptance testing] suivant des procédures validées par notre service métrologie.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +2 | calibrate (against a reference standard) |
Tony M
|
| 4 +1 | adjusted/set |
Stephen Emm
|
| 3 | To set scales |
SafeTex
|
References
| définitions |
mchd
|
Change log
May 2, 2012 00:49: Emanuela Galdelli changed "Term asked" from "étalonner (here)" to "étalonner"
Proposed translations
+2
2 hrs
Selected
calibrate (against a reference standard)
OK, I had hoped you would go and find the answer from the acrhives, but here is my contribution, FWIW, in order to keep the glossary tidy.
In general terms, both 'étalonner' and 'calibrer' mean 'to calibrate' — but here, FR makes a disticntion we don't usually make in EN, hence why it is hard to find a suitable expression that fits in all cases.
In metrology, there are several ways things can be 'calibrated' — the simplest way is to note the error between 'what my device says' and 'some kind of standard' — so when MD says 'Y', it actually means 'Y±Δ'. Then there is another level of calibration, which means to actually adjust MD in such a way that it reads exactly the same as the standard — this is what is referred to as 'étalonnage' — comparison with an 'étalon'.
Sorry, I haven't explained this very clearly, but please do go and look at the previous KudoZ discussions...
In general terms, both 'étalonner' and 'calibrer' mean 'to calibrate' — but here, FR makes a disticntion we don't usually make in EN, hence why it is hard to find a suitable expression that fits in all cases.
In metrology, there are several ways things can be 'calibrated' — the simplest way is to note the error between 'what my device says' and 'some kind of standard' — so when MD says 'Y', it actually means 'Y±Δ'. Then there is another level of calibration, which means to actually adjust MD in such a way that it reads exactly the same as the standard — this is what is referred to as 'étalonnage' — comparison with an 'étalon'.
Sorry, I haven't explained this very clearly, but please do go and look at the previous KudoZ discussions...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Johannes Gleim
: Yes, unfortunately we have no equivalent term in English for "étalonner".
11 mins
|
|
Danke, Johannes!
|
|
| agree |
Salih YILDIRIM
4 days
|
|
Thanks, Salih!
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
56 mins
French term (edited):
étalonner (here)
To set scales
The synonym used depends on the sort of finetuning that is going on.
As it is for measurements, maybe just "to set scales" or "calibrate and test" (in that order)
As it is for measurements, maybe just "to set scales" or "calibrate and test" (in that order)
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
philgoddard
: I like "calibrate and test". Another possibility is "benchmark".
http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/étalonner
2 mins
|
| disagree |
Tony M
: Not really what it means here, and would tend to be misleading...
1 hr
|
+1
1 hr
Stephen Emm
Native in English
Works in field
Translation for Industry and Business
Native in: English (Variant: UK)
Works in: French to English, Swedish to English
French term (edited):
étalonné (here)
adjusted/set
étalonner can mean "to adjust or set" in the sense of placing an item of equipment at a particular setting, i.e. adjusted to the correct setting to perform a particular task
Reference comments
2 hrs
Reference:
définitions
voilà de quoi lever l'ambiguité, les définitions sont explicites :
Un étalonnage consiste à reporter les erreurs d'un instrument avec les incertitudes associées (voir le certificat d'étalonnage d'un poids étalon). Il n'y a pas de jugement.
Le calibrage est un ajustage particulier mis à la disposition de l'utilisateur par le constructeur. Ce terme "calibrage" n'est plus cité dans le vocabulaire international de métrologie, car il n'a pas d'équivalent en langue anglaise. On utilise désormais le terme "réglage".
http://www.instrumexpert.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=8750
Un étalonnage consiste à reporter les erreurs d'un instrument avec les incertitudes associées (voir le certificat d'étalonnage d'un poids étalon). Il n'y a pas de jugement.
Le calibrage est un ajustage particulier mis à la disposition de l'utilisateur par le constructeur. Ce terme "calibrage" n'est plus cité dans le vocabulaire international de métrologie, car il n'a pas d'équivalent en langue anglaise. On utilise désormais le terme "réglage".
http://www.instrumexpert.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=8750
Discussion
Although in EN we don't tend to make the distinction, and use 'calibrate' for both, there IS a distinction, and the FR makes it quite clear.
Depending on your actual context, you may or may not need to expand the text to explain the distinction in EN.
Please check the archives, then get back to me if you wish to discuss further.
This is very specific specialist language in fields like metrology etc., and simplt dictionary definitions are far from telling the whole story.
Certificats d’étalonnage;
Certificats de calibration;
Procédures d’étalonnage;
Procédures de calibration;
Unfortunately, the cells next to these entries are all blank, so I don't know how the author is defining them or why they are listed separtely. It is possible that the author is not a native French speaker, the document contains all sorts of oddities.