Etymologically
Log in

elle

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 04:12. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛl/[1]
  • IPA (Quebec, informal): /a/[1]

Forms

elle f (third-person singular, plural elles, accusative la, dative lui, emphatic elle, possessive determiner son)[1] Old French ele (about 881), plural eles.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ele, inherited from Latin illa (“that one (feminine)”), the feminine of the demonstrative “ille” “that”.[2][4][1] Rey connects “ille” with an Indo-European base with “l” for a distant object, also seen in alius (“other”), ōlim (“formerly”) and ultrā (“beyond”).[2] As a subject pronoun it followed the development of the masculine il.[2][4] As an object it replaced, after 1250, the old pronoun li, lei, from *illaei, which survives in eastern, south-eastern and Norman dialects.[2][4]

Cognate with Italian lei and Old Occitan liei, which continue the oblique form.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Sequence of Saint Eulalia (about 881) has the feminine subject ele, referring to the saint.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Elle took over the stressed object uses from li after the middle of the 13th century (à elle, pour elle).[2][4] Used absolutely and with a capital, Elle names the beloved woman or the eternal feminine, as in George Sand's novel Elle et Lui.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 881 – Ele in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia.[3]
  • late 10th century – The plural eles in the Passion de Clermont.[3]
  • after 1250 – Elle replaces li as a stressed object.[2]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. she; it: third person feminine singular subject pronoun; plural elles “they”.[1][5]
  2. Her, it: stressed form, after a preposition or for emphasis: à elle, elle, elle sait.[1]
  3. Elle: the beloved woman.[2]
  • il
  • la
  • Latin ille

Usage notes

The name of the letter ⟨l⟩ is also written elle.[1] In informal Quebec speech the pronoun is often pronounced /a/.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ 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
  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. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert