Etymology and origin of the French word charrette
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- c. 1100 Chanson de Roland More words from the 11th century
- Ultimate origin
- Latin carrus
Etymology tree
From the same root
Pronunciation
- /ʃa.ʁɛt/[1]
Forms
charrette f (plural charrettes)[1] Old French carette, charrete.[2][3]
Etymology
It is formed from French char + -ette.[2][4][5][6] The base word comes from Latin carrus (“wagon”), a Latin borrowing from Gaulish for a four-wheeled baggage wagon.[6]
Cognate with Occitan carreta, Spanish carreta and Italian carretto.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first found as carette in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), where the dead are carried off in carts: En trois carettes “in three carts”.[2][3][4]
Semantic evolution
The word specialised as the light two-wheeled cart with shafts used on farms.[7][2] Under the Terror la charrette des condamnés took the condemned to the guillotine;[8][5] the image was later used of a group of people dismissed together.[5] Charrette à bras is recorded in 1835 and charrette anglaise in 1884,[2] and the word is applied jokingly to a motor car from 1935.[7]
Among architecture students the word came to mean a spell of intensive work before a deadline, from the custom of loading the students' projects on exhibition day into a cart pulled by the youngest.[7][1] Être en charrette is recorded in 1886, later shortened to être charrette.[7] English took the word (charette) about 1400 from Old French, and the architects' sense by 1977.[9]
Timeline
- c. 1100 – Carette in the Chanson de Roland.[2][3]
- 1835 – The Académie records charrette à bras.[2]
- 1884 – Charrette anglaise in Maupassant.[2]
- 1886 – Être en charrette among architecture students.[7]
- 1935 – Applied jokingly to a car.[7]
Meanings
Noun
- A two-wheeled cart with shafts and side rails, for carrying loads: la charrette du fermier.[5][2]
- La charrette des condamnés: the cart that took the condemned to the guillotine during the Terror; figuratively, a group of people dismissed together.[5][8]
- Charrette anglaise: a light two-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse.[8][5]
- Charrette à bras: a small handcart pulled by one or two people.[5][3]
- (familiar) A spell of intensive work to finish an urgent project in time: être en charrette, and as an adjective être charrette, to be swamped with urgent work.[5][7][1]
Word family
- charretée
- charretier
Related words
Usage notes
The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert list a separate charrette 2, an alteration of charogne influenced by this word, recorded in 1901.[4][5] Used in Swiss French as a mildly abusive, sometimes friendly term for a rascal and as an exclamation like “drat!”, it is now somewhat dated.[7][5]
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
- ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry
“Charrette.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/charrette. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.
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