Etymologically
Log in

encore

Etymology and origin of the French word encore

History Permalink
Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
mid-11th century, Vie de saint Alexis
Inherited from
Latin *hinc ad horam via Old French
Ultimate origin
Vulgar Latin (*hinc ad hōram)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French encore
English encore

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ̃.kɔʁ/[1]

Forms

encore[1] Old French uncor, uncore, oncore, then encor, encore, encores from the 12th century;[2] encor survives only in poetry.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French uncore, probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *hinc ad hōram (“from here to the hour”) or *hinc hāc hōrā.[5][2][3] The older forms uncore and oncore are due to the influence of Old French onque (“ever”), from Latin umquam.[5][2] Littré derived it from hanc hōram (“until this hour”), and Wiktionary from Late Latin in hanc hōram.[6][1] The last part is the same word as heure, and as the old adverb or “now”.[4][7]

Cognate with Italian ancora, Catalan encara, Occitan encara and Old Spanish encara.[6][1] Littré lists dialect forms such as Picard core and Norman co.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Vie de saint Alexis (mid-11th century) it is an adverb of time marking that a state persists at the moment considered; with a verb in the present it means “now, at this hour”.[5][2] In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it already marks repetition, “also, besides”: Sun cumpaignun Gerers ocit uncore.[5]

Semantic evolution

With a comparative it marks a further degree, from 1165–70 in Chrétien de Troyes' Erec.[5][2] Before a verb in the subjunctive it expressed a concession from the end of the 12th century, and the conjunction encore que “although”, first found in Rabelais (1532), was much used in classical French and is now literary.[5][2] As a particle it introduces a restriction from the late 13th century, as in encore faut-il… and et encore !.[2][7] Its use in affirmative clauses for “until now, already” was common in the classical period but has gone, and pour encore “for now” has died out; it now marks something expected but not yet done only in negative turns such as pas encore.[2] Vaugelas banned the spelling encor from prose in 1647.[2]

English took encore in 1712 as a call for a performer to repeat a piece; the OED notes that French uses bis for this.[8]

Timeline

  • mid-11th century – Uncor appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.[5][3]
  • c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland uses it for repetition.[5]
  • 12th century – The forms encor and encore appear.[2][4]
  • 1165–70 – Used before a comparative in Chrétien de Troyes.[5]
  • 1532 – Encore que “although” appears in Rabelais.[5]
  • 1647 – Vaugelas bans the spelling encor from prose.[2]
  • 1712 – English uses encore as a call for a repeat.[8]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Still, marking that an action or state continues: il dort encore.[7][9]
  2. Pas encore: not yet.[7][10]
  3. Again; more, in addition: vous vous êtes encore trompé, encore un peu.[7][9]
  4. With a comparative: even, still: encore plus difficile.[7][9]
  5. Introducing a restriction: encore faut-il avoir le temps;[10] et encore ! “and that's saying a lot”.[10][7]
  6. Expressing impatience: quoi encore ?, encore toi ![9]

Conjunction

  1. Encore que (literary): although.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

  • et · also from Latin
  • de · also from Latin
  • ne · also from Latin
  • je · also from Latin
  • avoir · also from Latin
  • être · also from Latin
  • tu · also from Latin
  • tout · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Encore.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/encore. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·