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faux

Etymology and origin of the French word faux

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inherited borrowed derived
Latin falsus
English false
French faux

faux1 false

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (fals)
Inherited from
Latin falsus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (fallō)

Pronunciation

Forms

faux (feminine fausse, masculine plural faux, feminine plural fausses)[1] Old French fals (1080), faus (12th century); the spelling faux dates from the 14th century.[2][3]

Etymology

The adjective “false” is inherited from Old French fals, inherited from Latin falsus (“false, falsified, deceitful”), the past participle of fallō (“to deceive”).[4][2][5][6][7] The same Latin verb gave faillir and falloir.[2][8]

Cognate with Italian falso, Old Occitan fals and Catalan fals, from which falso and falso were borrowed.[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) fals jugement is an unjust judgement, and false lei a false religion.[4][10]

Semantic evolution

By 1176 (Chrétien de Troyes, Cligès) it meant counterfeit, falsified, and also deceitful, le faux, what is not true, is found about 1223.[4][2] It was applied to what is founded on illusion or error (fausse joie, 1580), to a mind that reasons badly (before 1662) and, by the idea of departure from a rule, to an out-of-tune voice (mid-18th century).[2] What only looks like the real thing is faux as well: fausse perle (12th century), faux plafond (about 1360), fausse barbe (before 1549), and in natural history plants and animals that resemble others (faux acacia).[2]

The noun un faux “a forgery” dates from 1611, in law from 1659.[4][2] À faux survives in architecture, porter à faux (1690), whence en porte-à-faux.[2] English has used faux with English words since 1676 (faux-prude), and alone, meaning “fake”, since the 1980s.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Fals jugement, Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1176 – “Counterfeit”, Chrétien de Troyes.[4]
  • c. 1223 – The noun le faux “what is untrue”.[4]
  • 14th century – The spelling faux.[2]
  • 1580 – Fausse joie, faux mouvement.[2]
  • 1611 – Un faux “a forgery”, Cotgrave.[4]
  • 1676 – In English, faux-prude.[11]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. false, untrue: une idée fausse, c'est faux![8][1]
  2. Wrong, incorrect: un calcul faux, faire fausse route.[8][2]
  3. Fake, counterfeit, forged: de faux billets, de faux papiers.[1][2]
  4. Imitation, artificial: de fausses dents, un faux plafond.[8][2]
  5. Deceitful, insincere: un faux frère, un regard faux.[8][4]
  6. Unfounded: une fausse alerte, une fausse joie.[2][10]
  7. (music) Out of tune: une note fausse.[2][12]

Adverb

  1. Wrongly; out of tune: chanter faux, sonner faux.[12][1]

Noun

  1. Le faux: what is false: distinguer le vrai du faux.[4][1]
  2. A forgery, fake: ce tableau est un faux, (law) faux en écriture.[1][2]

Word family

  • faussement
  • fausseté
  • fausset
  • fausser
  • défausser
  • faux-filet
  • faux-fuyant
  • faux-semblant
  • archifaux

faux2 scythe

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1175, Chrétien de Troyes (fauz)
Inherited from
Latin falx via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (falx)

Pronunciation

Forms

faux f (plural faux)[1] Old French fauz (12th century), Middle French faulx (about 1360, Froissart); faux from 1587, though faulx is still found in the 19th century.[3][6]

Etymology

The scythe is inherited from Old French fauz, inherited from Latin falx (“sickle, scythe, pruning hook”) (accusative “falcem”).[6][3][5][10][13] Bloch and Wartburg note that “faux” is a northern word: south of a line from the Loire to the Jura the scythe is named by descendants of Vulgar Latin *daculus, *dacula, while in the South-West the type “faux” survives in the sense “sickle”.[5]

Cognate with Italian falce, Old Occitan fals, Catalan falç, Spanish hoz (“sickle”) and Portuguese fouce; in the Romance languages the meaning wavers between sickle and scythe.[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as fauz in Chrétien de Troyes (about 1175), for the long-handled blade used to cut grass and grain.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

As an attribute of Time and Death it is recorded in Rotrou (1638); a pole weapon with a scythe blade was also called faux (1690).[3] By likeness of shape, anatomy uses it for curved membranous folds: faux du cerveau (1690).[3][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1175 – Fauz, Chrétien de Troyes.[3]
  • c. 1360 – Faulx, Froissart.[3]
  • 1587 – The spelling faux, La Noue.[3]
  • 1638 – The scythe of Time and Death, Rotrou.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A scythe: aiguiser sa faux.[8][12]
  2. (literary) The scythe of Death or of Time.[8][12]
  3. (anatomy) A curved membranous fold: faux du cerveau.[8][3]

Word family

  • fauchon

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 392b
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  12. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  13. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 404a

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Faux.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/faux. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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