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élire

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Etymology and origin of the French word élire

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100 Chanson de Roland More words from the 11th century
Inherited from
Latin *exlego via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin legō

Pronunciation

Forms

élire[1] Old French eslire;[2][3] élire from the 14th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French eslire, inherited from Vulgar Latin *exlegō, a remodelling of Latin ēligō (“to choose”) after legō (“to gather, choose, read”).[4][3][5][1][6] The Latin verb is formed with ex- and the simple verb, the source of lire1.[3][2] Bloch and Wartburg compare the same remodelling in commander and éclore.[5] The old past participle eslit, from ēlēctus, survives in élite; it was replaced by esleü (1176, Chrétien de Troyes).[4][5]

The word is mainly Gallo-Romance: compare Old Occitan eslire and the obsolete Spanish esleír.[5][1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland as eslire, meaning “to choose among several people or things”: Car m'eslisez un baron de ma marche.[4][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “choose” lasted until the 17th century, when Father Bouhours judged it old-fashioned; it returned in 20th-century literary French.[3][5] It survived in religion, with God as the subject (elis “the chosen”, about 1200), and in law, in élire domicile.[3][4] Dialects keep the sense “to sort”.[5]

The sense “to appoint by vote” appears with Villehardouin (about 1207) but was rare before the 16th century; it was used first of Ancien Régime institutions and became the common sense with modern democracy.[4][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Eslire “to choose” appears in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1176 – Chrétien de Troyes has the participle esleü.[4]
  • c. 1200 – The participle elis names those chosen by God.[4][3]
  • c. 1207 – Villehardouin uses it for “to appoint by vote”.[4][2]
  • 14th century – The spelling élire appears.[2]
  • 17th century – Bouhours finds the sense “to choose” old-fashioned.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To elect: to appoint someone to an office or a dignity by vote.[8][4][1]
  2. (archaic, literary) To choose.[8][3][2]
  3. Élire domicile: to take up residence; in law, to choose an address for the service of legal documents.[8][7][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 213b
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Élire.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/%C3%A9lire. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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