Etymologically
Log in

bride

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word bride

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1200 More words from the 12th century
Borrowed from
Middle High German brīdel
Ultimate origin
Middle High German brīdel

Pronunciation

Forms

bride f (plural brides)[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Middle High German brīdel (“rein”).[2][3][4][5][6] The word's first area was northern France, and the Rey dictionary takes this borrowing as the likeliest explanation.[2] The related Old High German brittil, source of bretelle, does not fit the sounds of the French word;[2][3] Wiktionary traces the Middle High German word to brīdil and Proto-West Germanic *brigdil (“bridle”).[1] Middle English bridel is a less likely source, since French borrowed little from English in the 13th century, and a Frankish origin does not fit the word's fairly late appearance.[2] Littré derived it directly from the Old High German word.[7]

The Italian briglia, Spanish brida, Portuguese brida and probably Old Occitan brida were taken from French.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1200, for the bridle of a horse;[2][3] the Grand Robert dates it about 1223.[4] In the Roman de la Rose Fortune puts the bridle on the neck of Croesus: Puis li mist l'en ou col la bride.[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The word names the harness on a horse's head, often only the reins, and it gave many riding phrases that passed into everyday figurative use.[2] The idea of turning is in tourner la bride (first half of the 15th century), then tourner bride (about 1460), sometimes “to change one's mind”;[2] speed in à bride avalée (1532), replaced by à bride abattue, and à toute bride (1559).[2] Restraint is expressed by tenir quelqu'un en bride (1538) and tenir la bride courte, haute,[2] freedom by lâcher la bride (1538) and la bride sur le cou (1549, at first sur le col).[2][9] From these phrases bride came to mean, on its own, whatever checks or directs (about 1580).[2]

By analogy it named a tie or strap (1606), a loop or bar in sewing (1659) and a metal clamp joining parts (1811), and in pathology a band of tissue joining organs abnormally (1792).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – First record, for a horse's bridle.[2][3]
  • 1400–1450 – Tourner la bride “to turn back” is recorded.[2]
  • c. 1460 – Tourner bride and tirer sur la bride appear.[2]
  • 1532 – À bride avalée “at full gallop”.[2]
  • 1538 – Tenir quelqu'un en bride and lâcher la bride.[2]
  • 1549 – La bride sur le col “free to do as one pleases”.[2]
  • 1559 – À toute bride.[2]
  • 1606 – It names a tie or strap.[2]
  • 1659 – It names a loop or bar in sewing.[2]
  • 1792 – It is used in pathology for an abnormal band of tissue.[2]
  • 1811 – It names a metal clamp.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bridle: the harness on a horse's head, with the headstall, the bit and the reins, used to guide it.[5][6][10][7]
  2. The reins alone: tenir son cheval en bride.[11][7][5]
  3. (figurative) A check or restraint: tenir quelqu'un en bride, lâcher la bride à quelqu'un, avoir la bride sur le cou “to be free”.[5][10]
  4. À bride abattue, à toute bride: at full gallop, very fast.[10][6][7]
  5. Tourner bride: to turn back;[10][7] (figurative) to change one's mind or conduct.[10][7]
  6. A string or strap holding a hat or bonnet under the chin.[6][10]
  7. (sewing) A small loop of thread receiving a hook or button; a bar of stitches reinforcing the end of a slit.[6][1]
  8. (technology) A metal clamp or flange holding parts together.[6][1]
  9. (pathology) A band of fibrous tissue abnormally joining two organs; an adhesion.[6][1][2]

Word family

  • brider
  • bridon
  • débrider
  • bretelle
  • Middle High German brīdel
  • English bridle

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 s t u v w x y Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner
  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 e f Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (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
Cite this entry

“Bride.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/bride. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·