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chauve

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Etymology and origin of the French word chauve

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1160–1174 Wace, Roman de Rou More words from the 12th century
Inherited from
Latin calvus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin calvus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin calvus
French chauve
From the same root
Latin calvāria ← calvus

Pronunciation

Forms

chauve (plural chauves)[1] Old French masculine chals, chauf, calf, feminine chauve, cauve.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chauve, inherited from Latin calvus (“bald”).[2][1][5] Old French had the masculine chals (about 1160) or chauf beside the feminine form, which began to replace the masculine at the end of the 12th century; the masculine disappeared in the 14th.[4][6] The TLFi and the Grand Robert first find the feminine form used for a man in the second half of the 13th century.[2][7] In Latin the adjective was also said of a kind of nut and of a vine.[8]

Cognate with Italian calvo, Spanish calvo, Portuguese calvo and Occitan calv.[4][9][3] Rey compares Sanskrit and Avestan words for “bald”.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The masculine chals is first found in Wace's Roman de Rou (1160–74), and the feminine cauve or chauve in Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval (1174–87), where Fortune is cauve detriers et devant chavelure “bald behind and long-haired in front”, so that she cannot be caught from behind.[2]

Semantic evolution

Old French used ne chevelu ne chauf “neither hairy nor bald” to mean “not a living soul”.[3] Like its Latin source, the word was said of a part of the body and of a person, and by analogy of plants and animals without the hair, feathers or down they normally have: a bird with a bare head, a seed without its tuft.[8][3] The image of bald Fortune lived on as l'occasion est chauve “opportunity is hard to seize” (Richelieu, 1628).[2][3]

In the literary sense “bare, without vegetation”, said of land, it is recorded by Larousse in 1866.[6] In everyday speech it is often replaced by expressive words such as pelé or plumé.[4]

Timeline

  • 1160–74 – The masculine chals appears in Wace's Roman de Rou.[2]
  • 1174–87 – The feminine cauve, chauve appears in Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval.[2]
  • second half of the 13th century – The feminine form is used of a man: Challes li chauves “Charles the Bald”.[2]
  • 14th century – The masculine chauf goes out of use.[4][6]
  • 1628 – Richelieu writes l'occasion est chauve.[2]
  • 1866 – Larousse records the sense “bare, without vegetation”.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. bald, having little or no hair left: chauve comme un œuf (as bald as a coot).[10][11][12]
  2. (literary) Bare, without vegetation: une colline chauve (a bare hill).[6][11][1]
  3. (natural history) Without its usual feathers or down, of a bird's head or a seed.[3]

Noun

  1. A bald person: un chauve; the feminine is rare.[10][12]

Word family

  • chauve-souris

Usage notes

L'occasion est chauve “opportunity is bald” means that a chance must be seized at once.[3][2] Littré also records une chauve as a quarry term for a white vein in slate.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 106a
  6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Chauve.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/chauve. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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