Etymologically
Log in

éloigner

Etymology and origin of the French word éloigner

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (soi esluiner)
Ultimate origin
Latin (longē)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin longe
French loin
French éloigner

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /e.lwa.ɲe/[1]

Forms

éloigner[1] Old French esluiner (about 1050), esloignier, esloigner (13th century); éloigner in Crespin (1606).[2][3]

Etymology

It is from French é- + loin + -er, from the prefix “es-” (Latin ex-) and loin.[2][4][5][3][6] Wiktionary also mentions a popular Latin “*exlongāre”.[1] “Loin” is from Latin longē (“far”).[7]

Compare Old Occitan eslueingnar.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) soi esluiner is to move away, in an abstract sense, from God and the precepts of Scripture.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The figurative “to turn (someone) away” is from the end of the 12th century, and in 1267 it meant to put off in time.[4][2] From the spatial sense came “to keep (someone) away from public life” and, before 1870, “to make seem distant”, of lenses.[4][3] The participle éloigné (early 13th century) is used of distant relatives (des parents éloignés) and remote causes, and, from 1580 être éloigné de meant to be far from doing something.[4] Littré notes that some pronounced it élogner.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Soi esluiner, Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • 1155 – Esluinement.[4]
  • late 12th century – To turn away.[4]
  • 1267 – To put off in time.[2]
  • 1580 – Être éloigné de.[4]
  • 1606 – The spelling éloigner.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To move away, take away: éloigner une lampe, éloigner les enfants du feu.[5][3]
  2. To distance, keep away (from a person, a plan, public life).[4][1]
  3. To turn away, divert: éloigner un soupçon.[4]
  4. To put off, postpone; to remove further in time: chaque jour nous éloigne de notre jeunesse.[2][3]
  5. S'éloigner: to move away, go away; to drift apart, s'éloigner du sujet, to digress.[1][4]

Word family

  • éloignement
  • éloigné

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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 g h i j k 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. 5, 404a
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
Cite this entry

“Éloigner.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/%C3%A9loigner. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·