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déloger

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Etymology and origin of the French word déloger

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1180–1185 Raoul de Cambrai More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Frankish *laubja

Pronunciation

  • /de.lɔ.ʒe/[1]

Forms

déloger[1] Old French deslogier (late 12th century), written desloigier in Raoul de Cambrai.[2][3][4] The spelling déloger is found from the 13th century, beside desloger into the 15th.[3][5][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French dé- + loger.[6][2][4] The verb loger is derived from loge, which Bloch and Wartburg and Picoche trace to Frankish *laubja, related to German Laube (“arbour”).[7][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in Raoul de Cambrai (1180–1185), used intransitively for leaving the place where one is lodged, breaking camp: Quant li baron prisent à desloigier, Vers Origni prisent adès loigier (“when the barons began to break camp, they went at once to lodge towards Origny”).[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The first uses concern an army or a lord's company leaving its quarters;[3][4] Villehardouin (about 1207) uses it for an army moving on to another place.[3][4] The transitive use, “to make someone leave”, appears about 1230 in Gautier de Coinci;[6] the Petit Robert dates this use to 1657.[5] In the 16th century the intransitive verb came to mean leaving one's lodging to settle elsewhere.[3]

The military sense is now obsolete, and the intransitive verb as a whole is dated; in modern French the verb is mostly transitive, for driving people or animals out of a place and for dislodging things.[5][6][3]

Timeline

  • 1180–1185 – Desloigier appears in Raoul de Cambrai for breaking camp.[6][4]
  • c. 1207 – Villehardouin uses it of an army leaving its quarters.[3][4]
  • c. 1230 – Gautier de Coinci uses it transitively, “to make leave”.[6]
  • Late 14th century – The derivative délogement appears in Froissart.[6]
  • 1538 – Robert Estienne records it for leaving one's lodging.[3]
  • 1657 – The Petit Robert's date for the transitive “drive out”.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive, dated) To leave one's lodging or place hurriedly, to move out or decamp.[5][10][6]
  2. (intransitive, Belgium) To sleep away from home.[5]
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) Of troops: to strike camp, leave their quarters.[3][4]
  4. (transitive) To make someone leave the place they occupy, to drive out or evict: déloger les occupants d'un immeuble.[5][10][1]
  5. (transitive) To drive an enemy or an animal from its position: déloger un renard de sa tanière.[5]
  6. (transitive) To dislodge or extract something: Le jet d'eau déloge la saleté.[5][1]

Word family

  • délogement
  • loger
  • loge
  • reloger
  • logement

Usage notes

Déloger sans tambour ni trompette was said of troops withdrawing secretly and is now said familiarly of a person leaving without attracting notice.[3][4] Littré also records faire Jacques déloge “to go off quickly and quietly”, and the infinitive used as a noun.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
  9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 449b
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Déloger.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/d%C3%A9loger. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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