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féodal

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Etymology and origin of the French word féodal

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1328 Cartulaire de Flines More words from the 14th century
Borrowed from
Latin feodalis
Ultimate origin
Frankish *fehu
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin feudum
Latin feodālis
French féodal

Pronunciation

Forms

féodal (feminine féodale, masculine plural féodaux, feminine plural féodales)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin feodalis, recorded as a noun in 930 and as an adjective in 993–1032,[2][3] formed on feodum (“fief”), one of the Latin forms of fief.[4][2][5] Bloch and Wartburg say that this form was shaped after alodis (compare alleu).[4] The FEW places the family under Frankish *fehu.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1328 the Cartulary of Flines uses it as an adjective meaning “relating to a fief and to the system founded on it”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is one of the terms that define the political and social order of the Middle Ages, built on the fief.[3] About 1460 it was used as a noun for a great lord or vassal.[2][3] It later applied to anything dating from or recalling the feudal age, such as a castle (1748, Montesquieu, for the period sense),[7][2] and, outside the medieval context, to a landowner with power over his peasants.[3] In the historical materialism of Marx and Engels the family of words took a technical value, féodalité naming the period between slavery and capitalism.[3]

Timeline

  • 930 – Medieval Latin feodalis is recorded as a noun.[2][3]
  • 1328 – First French record, in the Cartulary of Flines.[2]
  • c. 1460 – Used as a noun by Jean Chartier.[2]
  • 1483 – Feodallement appears.[2][3]
  • 1515 – The derivative féodalité is recorded.[4][3]
  • 1823 – Féodalisme appears.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. feudal: relating to a fief or to the feudal system: le régime féodal, droits féodaux.[8][2][9]
  2. Dating from the feudal age, medieval in style: un château féodal.[2][8]
  3. (figurative) Wielding a lord's arbitrary power: Ce patron gère son usine de façon féodale.[3][2]

Noun

  1. A great lord of the feudal age; a powerful landowner.[3][8]

Word family

  • féodalité

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 118b
  7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Féodal.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/f%C3%A9odal. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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