Etymologically
Log in

bataille

Etymology and origin of the French word bataille

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland
Inherited from
Latin battalia
Ultimate origin
Latin (battuo)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ba.taj/[1]
  • IPA: /ba.tɑj/[1]

Forms

bataille f (plural batailles)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin battālia (5th–6th centuries), an alteration of battuālia, a neuter plural attested in the 4th century in the sense “fencing exercises”,[2][3][4][5] from Latin battuō (“to beat”), the source of battre.[2][3] Wiktionary gives the Latin verb a Gaulish origin.[1] Littré quotes the grammarian Adamantius Martyr, “batualia, quae vulgo battalia dicuntur”, and notes that the neuter plural became a feminine singular, as in merveille.[6]

Cognate with Italian battaglia, Old Occitan batalha, Catalan batalla (whence Spanish batalla and Portuguese batalha) and Romanian bătaie (“beating”).[7][3] From French came English battle.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) uses it both for a battle between two armies, Jo nen ai ost qui bataille li dunne (“I have no army to give him battle”), and for a combat between two men.[8][6]

Semantic evolution

By extension it was used of a clash between several opponents, in the literal and the figurative sense (about 1176).[2] By metonymy it named a body of troops (about 1176), a common sense until the 17th century, when armée and troupe replaced it;[2][6] from the related sense “order of an army drawn up for combat” come en bataille and bataille rangée, which Bloch and Wartburg date to about 1350 and Rey to 1606.[3][2] Rabelais has bataille navale (1542), and venir après la bataille “to come when all is over” dates from 1552.[2]

The order of en bataille tends to turn into its opposite: mettre son chapeau en bataille (1858) was to wear a cocked hat crosswise, and les cheveux en bataille is tousled hair.[2][9] Bataille is also a simple card game and bataille navale a guessing game.[2] The verb batailler (about 1130) now means mostly to argue hard (1690).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – In the Chanson de Roland.[8]
  • c. 1130 – Bataillier.[2]
  • c. 1176 – A body of troops; a clash of several opponents.[2]
  • 1213 – Batailleur.[3]
  • c. 1350 – Bataille rangée, according to Bloch and Wartburg.[3]
  • 1542 – Bataille navale, in Rabelais.[2]
  • 1552 – Venir après la bataille.[2]
  • 1858 – Chapeau en bataille.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A battle, a combat between two armies: bataille navale, aérienne, livrer bataille, gagner, perdre une bataille, champ de bataille, battlefield.[10][11]
  2. Bataille rangée: a pitched battle; figuratively a free-for-all.[10][11]
  3. A fight or struggle between opponents, also figuratively.[2]
  4. En bataille: drawn up in battle order; of hair, untidy: les cheveux en bataille.[2][1]
  5. Cheval de bataille: a favourite theme, hobby horse.[2]
  6. (card games) War, a simple card game, bataille navale, the game of battleships.[1][2]
  7. (historical) A body of troops.[2]

Word family

  • batailleur
  • batailler

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 290a
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b 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
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Bataille.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/bataille. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·