Etymologically
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bataille

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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