Etymologically
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école

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 17:33. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /e.kɔl/[1]

Forms

école f (plural écoles)[1] Old French escole;[2] école from 1636.[3][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin schola (“leisure for study; lesson; school”),[2][4][5][3][6] from Ancient Greek σχολή (skholḗ, “leisure; study”).[2][4][1] The Greek word meant leisure, then the study done at leisure (Plato), and in Hellenistic Greek a philosophical school;[4][7] in Late Latin schola also meant a guild or company.[2][4] Schola displaced Latin lūdus “elementary school”, which left no trace in that sense in Romance.[4][8] The form escole shows a word that kept in touch with written Latin, a semi-learned borrowing.[4][8][1]

Compare Italian scuola and Spanish escuela; German Schule and English school were borrowed from Latin.[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) tells how the good father put the child to school, “ad escole li bons pedre le mist”.[2][9]

Semantic evolution

From the place of teaching the word spread to the pupils of a master and those who follow his teaching (Jeu d'Adam, 1146–1174),[2][3] and so to a school of thought or art: l'École was scholastic philosophy (Descartes, 1636), and painters are grouped by école (l'école flamande).[3][7] Être à bonne école meant to have a good source of instruction.[2]

Faire l'école buissonnière “to play truant” is recorded by Cotgrave (1611).[3] In riding it is the training of the horse (1755),[2] and in backgammon an école was a point forgotten by one's opponent, whence faire une école “to make a blunder”.[8][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Escole (Alexis).[2][5]
  • 1146–1174 – The followers of a master.[2]
  • c. 1265 – A school of thought (Jean de Meun).[3]
  • 1611 – École buissonnière (Cotgrave).[3]
  • 1636 – The spelling école.[3]
  • 1755 – Riding school, training (Encyclopédie).[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A school; especially a primary school.[7][1]
  2. The pupils and staff of a school; schooling: aller à l'école.[7][3]
  3. A specialised college: école d'ingénieurs, grande école.[7][3]
  4. A school of thought or art; the followers of a master.[7][3]
  5. (figurative) Something that teaches: à bonne école.[2][7]

Word family

  • écolier

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 299b
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette