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cuivre

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Etymology and origin of the French word cuivre

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1120 Voyage de saint Brendan, as queivre More words from the 12th century
Inherited from
Latin cyprium via Old French
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek Κύπρος

Pronunciation

Forms

cuivre m (countable and uncountable, plural cuivres)[1] Anglo-Norman queivre (early 12th century) and quivre (1155), Old French coivre (about 1160) and cuivre (1165–1176).[2][3] A second type, keuvre (1288), survives in Picard, Walloon, Franco-Provençal and Occitan.[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French cuivre, inherited from Latin cyprium (“Cyprian (bronze)”), short for aes cyprium (“bronze of Cyprus”).[2][4][1][5] The Latin adjective comes from the name of the island, Ancient Greek Κύπρος (Kúpros, “Cyprus”), itself of unknown origin.[4][6] The metal name replaced the old Latin word for copper and bronze, aes, which gave airain.[4]

The sound development is obscure, and the sources explain it differently.[2][4] Bloch and Wartburg start from a popular form *coprium, whose ⟨o⟩ would come from another adaptation of the Greek word.[7][8] Wiktionary explains the ⟨ui⟩ by a raising of the short /u/ of the Latin word before a palatal sound, as in truite.[1] The TLFi and Rey also suggest that the ⟨i⟩ may come from confusion with the Old French homonym meaning “quiver”, which shows the same alternation.[2][4] The regular outcome of Imperial Latin cuprum is keuvre, still the type of the dialects.[2][4][7]

The Latin form with /u/ also gave Old Occitan coure and Spanish cobre.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the early 12th century as queivre in the Anglo-Norman Voyage de saint Brendan, as the name of the metal.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word has named the reddish-brown metal since Old French.[2][4] In the 19th century it took on metaphorical and metonymic senses: copper kitchen utensils or ornaments (1823), the brass instruments of an orchestra (1832, Hugo), and in engraving the engraved copper plate (1845).[2][4][8] From 1818 it is also used as an adjective of colour, beside cuivré.[2][4]

The learned element cupr-, from Latin cuprum, forms terms of chemistry and mineralogy such as cuprifère (1834) and cuprique (1845).[4]

Timeline

  • early 12th century – Queivre in the Voyage de saint Brendan.[2]
  • 1155 – Quivre in Wace's Brut.[2]
  • 1165–1176 – The form cuivre in Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès.[2]
  • 1288 – The dialect type keuvre is recorded.[2][4]
  • 1818 – First used as an adjective of colour, by Nodier.[2]
  • 1823 – Boiste records the sense “kitchen utensil”.[2]
  • 1832 – Hugo uses cuivres of brass instruments.[2][4]
  • 1845 – Bescherelle records the engraver's sense.[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. copper, the reddish-brown, malleable chemical element Cu, a very good electrical conductor.[9][10][2]
  2. Cuivre rouge: pure copper;[10][9] cuivre jaune: laiton, brass.[10][9]
  3. An object or utensil made of copper, usually in the plural: astiquer les cuivres de la cuisine.[8][2]
  4. (music) In the plural, the brass instruments of an orchestra.[2][1][4]
  5. (engraving) A copperplate, or a print taken from one.[1][6][4]

Word family

  • cuivreux
  • cuivré
  • cuivrer
  • cuivrique
  • cuprique
  • cuprifère
  • airain
  • Latin cuprum

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 s t u 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1614a
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cuivre.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/cuivre. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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