Etymologically
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carreau

Etymology and origin of the French word carreau

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (quarrel)
Inherited from
Latin *quadrellus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (quadrus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ka.ʁo/[1]
  • IPA: /kɑ.ʁo/[1]

Forms

carreau m (plural carreaux)[1] Old French quarrel, quarel (nominative carals); carreau from the 12th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French quarrel, inherited from Vulgar Latin *quadrellus,[2][3][5][6][1][7] a diminutive of Latin quadrus (“square”).[3][5][1] Medieval Latin quadrellus is recorded as a crossbow bolt (about 578), a square measure of land (about 868) and a paving slab (13th century).[3]

Cognate with Italian quadrello and Occitan cairel.[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has quarrel for a crossbow bolt with a square-sectioned head.[2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

From 1160 it named a flat paving tile of stone or fired clay (Wace), then the tiled floor itself (about 1330),[2][3] whence the carreau des Halles, where market traders set out their wares (1723), the pithead yard of a mine (1867), and étendre sur le carreau “to lay out flat” (about 1600), modern rester sur le carreau.[2][3] A pane of window glass is a carreau from 1318.[2]

Square patterns gave the check of a fabric (à carreaux), and in cards the suit of diamonds.[8][1] Craftsmen named after it a tailor's heavy iron (1611), still the usual word for an iron in Caribbean and Indian Ocean French, and a locksmith's file (1676).[2][3] In 17th-century poetry carreaux were thunderbolts.[5] In medicine it was tuberculosis of the abdominal glands, the belly being as hard as a tile (1694–1718).[5][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Quarrel, a crossbow bolt.[2][6]
  • 1160 – A paving tile (Wace).[2][3]
  • 1318 – A windowpane.[2]
  • 1611 – A tailor's iron.[2][3]
  • 1723 – Carreau de la Halle.[2][3]
  • 1867 – Carreau de la mine.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tile for floors or walls.[8][1]
  2. A windowpane.[8][1]
  3. A square in a pattern: tissu à carreaux “checked cloth”.[8][2]
  4. (cards) Diamonds, the suit.[8][1]
  5. (historical) A crossbow bolt.[8][1]
  6. Rester sur le carreau: to be left for dead, or left out.[8][2]

Word family

  • carreler
  • carrelet
  • carreauté
  • carré
  • carrer
  • équerre
  • square
  • cadre
  • Latin quadrus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1401b
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Carreau.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/carreau. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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