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embrasser

Etymology and origin of the French word embrasser

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (embracier)
Ultimate origin
Latin (bracchium)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin bracchium
French bras
French embrasser
Latin bracchiatus

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ̃.bʁa.se/[1]

Forms

embrasser[1] Old French embracier, embrasser from about 1360 (Froissart).[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French embracier, formed in Old French from French en- + bras + -er.[3][2][1][4][5] Bras is from Latin bracchium (“arm”).[4]

Cognate with Old Occitan embrassar and Italian imbracciare.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) Roland holds Oliver to his breast, contre son piz puis si l'ad embracet, and Charlemagne embraces his horse's neck: to hold in one's arms.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

About 1130 it meant to seize, take on, whence the later sense of adopting a cause, a career or a religion.[3] In Montaigne (1580) it means to contain, include, and in Pascal to take in with the eye or the mind (embrasser du regard).[3][7]

The sense “to kiss”, without taking in one's arms, was still noted as a neologism by Hatzfeld at the end of the 19th century, and it has become the ordinary one.[8][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Embracet, Chanson de Roland.[3]
  • c. 1130 – “To take on”.[3]
  • c. 1360 – The spelling embrasser, Froissart.[2]
  • 1580 – “To contain”, Montaigne.[3]
  • Late 19th century – “To kiss”, still a neologism for Hatzfeld.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To kiss: embrasser quelqu'un sur la joue, je t'embrasse (at the end of a letter).[1][9]
  2. (dated) To hug, embrace, hold in one's arms.[1][9]
  3. To take up, adopt: embrasser une carrière, une religion, une cause.[3]
  4. To include, take in: embrasser d'un coup d'œil.[3][9]

Word family

  • embrassade
  • embrassement
  • embrasse

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 487b
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Embrasser.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/embrasser. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·