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décourager

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Etymology and origin of the French word décourager

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1165–1170 Benoît de Sainte-Maure, Roman de Troie More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Old French des-,corage

Pronunciation

  • /de.ku.ʁa.ʒe/[1]

Forms

décourager[1] Old French descoragier, Middle French descourager.[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French descoragier, formed from Old French des- + corage, the forerunner of courage.[2][4][1] The prefixed verbs keep the old values of the noun, “heart, spirit”.[5] It pairs with encourager.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as descoragier in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (1165–1170), meaning to take away someone's spirit.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

From “take away someone's strength of mind” it came to mean “leave someone without energy”, and above all “take away the wish to do something”.[5] Old quotations include descoragiés in Jehan et Blonde (13th century), and Froissart's Un mauvais cœur en descourage deux douzaines de bons “one bad heart disheartens two dozen good ones”.[3] The reflexive and the past participle are common.[5] The GLLF dates the sense “hinder the growth of something” to 1870.[6]

English took discourage from Old French in the mid-15th century.[7]

Timeline

  • 1165–1170 – First record, as descoragier, in the Roman de Troie.[2]
  • late 12th century – The noun descoragement appears.[5]
  • mid-15th century – English discourage is recorded.[7]
  • 1614 – Décourageant is recorded.[5]
  • 1870 – Larousse records the sense “hinder”.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To discourage, to take away someone's courage or energy.[8][3]
  2. Décourager quelqu'un de: to put someone off doing something, to dissuade.[8][3]
  3. To deter or hinder: ce chien décourage les cambrioleurs.[8][6]
  4. (reflexive) se décourager: to lose heart.[8][1]

Word family

  • décourageant
  • découragement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Décourager.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/d%C3%A9courager. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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