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désastreux

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Etymology and origin of the French word désastreux

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1557 Olivier de Magny, Les Souspirs More words from the 16th century
Borrowed from
Italian disastroso
Ultimate origin
Italian astro

Pronunciation

  • /de.zas.tʁø/[1]

Forms

désastreux (feminine désastreuse, masculine plural désastreux, feminine plural désastreuses)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian disastroso, with the prefix adapted to French dé-, a derivative of disastro (“disaster”).[2][3][4][5] The Italian adjective had meant “stricken by disaster, unlucky” since the 13th century; the sense “causing a disaster” was formed in French from the noun désastre.[2] The Italian noun is formed from astro (“star”) with the pejorative prefix dis-, so that it properly means “evil star”.[5] Littré derived the adjective from the French noun alone.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Olivier de Magny's Les Souspirs (1557) uses it for a person “struck by disaster, unfortunate”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century and in classical French the adjective qualified a person who suffered or (from 1571, in Carloix) caused a disaster;[5][2] Littré quotes Carloix: Il print si à cœur ceste desastreuse nouvelle, qu'il en fust fort malade (“He took this disastrous news so much to heart that he was very ill from it”).[6] Scarron still has le désastreux Ragotin in 1651.[4] Furetière marked the passive sense as old in 1690, and only the active sense lived on, mostly of things.[2][5] The Larousse of 1870 records the hyperbolic use for anything that causes trouble or annoyance.[4] English took disastrous “ill-starred” from French in the 1580s.[7]

Timeline

  • 1557 – Magny uses désastreux of an unfortunate person.[2][3]
  • 1571 – Carloix uses it for what causes a disaster.[2][5]
  • 1583–1590 – Brantôme has the adverb désastreusement.[5]
  • 1651 – Scarron uses it of a person who suffers disasters.[4]
  • 1690 – Furetière marks the sense “unfortunate” as old.[2]
  • 1870 – Larousse records the weakened sense “causing trouble”.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Causing or being a disaster, calamitous: Les inondations ont été désastreuses pour la région.[8][2][1]
  2. (by exaggeration) Very bad, deplorable: Ses résultats du trimestre sont désastreux.[8][4]
  3. (classical) Of a person: who causes or suffers a disaster.[4][2]

Word family

  • désastreusement
  • désastre
  • astre
  • Italian disastroso
  • English disastrous

References

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

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Désastreux.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/d%C3%A9sastreux. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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