Etymologically
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amour

Etymology and origin of the French word amour

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
842, Serments de Strasbourg (amur)
Inherited from
Latin amor via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (amō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a.muʁ/[1]

Forms

amour m or f (plural amours)[1] Old French amur (842), amor; the regular outcome ameur is found in the early 13th century, amour from the 12th century.[2][3][1] The word was mostly feminine until the 17th century; the plural is still feminine in literary style.[4][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French amor, inherited from Latin amor (“love”), from amō (“to love”).[3][2][1][5] The regular French development would have been “ameur”, which is attested and survives in Picard; the vowel “ou” is due to the influence of Old Occitan amor, the word of the troubadours and of “fine amor”, courtly love.[2][1][6] Bloch and Wartburg go further and call it a borrowing from Old Occitan.[7]

The masculine gender is probably due to Latin, especially through the god's name Amor.[7] Cognate with Italian amore and Spanish amor.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Serments de Strasbourg (842) have Pro Deo amur “for the love of God”, the Christian sense from Latin amor Dei.[2][8][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it covered every strong affection, for God and for people, and meant “friendship” from 1139 to the 15th century; under Occitan influence it came to mean above all passionate, erotic love, as in Chrétien de Troyes.[2] Un amour, des amours named a person's love affairs (about 1150).[2] By the late 12th century it also named the beloved, whence mon amour (1671).[2]

Pour l'amour de Dieu goes back to the 11th century.[2] The colloquial un amour de (a child, a hat) appears in Balzac.[2] Amour-propre dates from 1613 and mamour from 1608.[7] Ce n'est pas de l'amour, c'est de la rage is recorded in 1812.[9]

Timeline

  • 842 – Pro Deo amur in the Serments de Strasbourg.[2]
  • c. 1100 – Par amur et par feid in the Chanson de Roland.[8]
  • 1139 – The sense “friendship”.[2]
  • c. 1150 – Des amours, love affairs.[2]
  • Early 13th century – The regular form ameur.[2]
  • 1608 – M'amour, mamour.[7]
  • 1613 – Amour-propre.[7]
  • 1671 – Mon amour as an endearment.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. love, devotion to God, a cause or an ideal: l'amour de Dieu, l'amour de la patrie.[10][4]
  2. Affection within a family: l'amour maternel.[10][4]
  3. Love between two people, passion: un amour partagé, faire l'amour.[4][8]
  4. A love affair: ses amours.[2][4]
  5. A loved person: mon amour, un amour de, a delightful (child, thing).[2]
  6. A strong liking for something: l'amour du jeu.[10]
  7. (art) A cupid, a figure of the god of love.[7][8]

Word family

  • amourette
  • amour-propre
  • mamour

Usage notes

In the singular amour is masculine; in the plural it is feminine in literary style (de folles amours) and masculine in everyday use.[4][11] Amour blanc is a name of the grass carp.[10]

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 n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 464a
  6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ 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

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Amour.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/amour. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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