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aube

Etymology and origin of the French word aube

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French has three words spelled aube: the dawn and the priest's white garment both come from Latin albus (“white”), by different routes, and the paddle of a wheel from Latin alapa.[1][2][3]

aube1 dawn

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland
Inherited from
Latin alba via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (albus)

Pronunciation

Forms

aube f (plural aubes)[3] Old French albe (1080); aube from about 1170.[2][1]

Etymology

The dawn is inherited from Old French albe, inherited from Vulgar Latin alba, the feminine of albus (“white”) used as a noun, “the white one”, as in alba lux and alba diēs.[2][1][3] Cognate with Romanian albă, Italian alba, Occitan alba, Catalan alba, Spanish alba and Portuguese alva.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland has Par main en l'albe, si com li jurz esclaire, “at morning, at dawn, as day breaks”.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Old French already said l'aube crevée (Roman de Renart) and l'aube du jour (Joinville, Froissart).[5] Rabelais's aube des mouches meant the hottest hour of the day, when the horseflies wake and bite.[2][5] At the end of the 16th century d'Aubigné uses it as a metaphor for a beginning, l'aube de la vie.[2] In today's French à l'aube often means simply “very early in the morning”.[2] Littré records the sailors' use for the time between the crew's supper and the first watch.[5]

Timeline

  • 1080 – Albe in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1170 – The form aube.[2][1]
  • 16th century – L'aube des mouches, in Rabelais.[2]
  • Late 16th century – L'aube de la vie, in d'Aubigné.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The first light of the rising sun, dawn, daybreak: l'aube précède l'aurore, dès l'aube.[4][7]
  2. (literary) The beginning of something: à l'aube du troisième millénaire.[7][8]

aube2 alb

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis
Borrowed from
Latin alba
Ultimate origin
Latin (albus)

Pronunciation

Forms

aube f (plural aubes)[3] Old French albe (about 1040); aube from 1174.[2][1]

Etymology

The vestment is borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin alba, short for alba vestis (“white garment”), from albus (“white”).[2][6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has it for the white garment of the clergy.[6][1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Christianity) An alb: the white linen vestment worn under the chasuble by priests at Mass.[4][8]
  2. A long white robe worn by children at their first communion.[4]

aube3 paddle

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1080, Chanson de Roland
Inherited from
Latin alapa via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (alapa)

Pronunciation

Forms

aube f (plural aubes)[3] Old French alve (1080), auve (late 12th century); aube from 1283.[2][9]

Etymology

The paddle is inherited from Old French alve, probably inherited from Vulgar Latin alapa, which meant a book cover in Medieval Latin and is recorded in the 1st century as “a slap”; it may first have meant the palm of the hand.[2][3] The origin of the Latin word is obscure, and Schuchardt's Etruscan source is very hypothetical.[2] The REW gives the outcomes Romanian aripă (“wing”), Old Occitan aubo and Spanish álabe (“paddle of a wheel”).[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland uses it for the small board joining the two saddlebows;[6] the form aube in 1283 has that sense and that of the paddle of a mill wheel.[2]

Semantic evolution

French took from the popular Latin word a sense “paddle” not attested in Latin, applied to mill wheels, then to the wheels of ships (bateau à aubes) and to the blades of turbines and pumps.[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A paddle or blade of a water wheel, a paddle wheel, a turbine or a pump: bateau à aubes.[6][2]
  2. The vane of a windmill.[3]
  3. (saddlery, historical) A small board joining the two saddlebows.[6][9]

Word family

  • aubage
  • aurore
  • aubade
  • aubépine
  • aubier
  • Latin albus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  8. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Aube.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/aube. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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