Etymologically
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fenêtre

Etymology and origin of the French word fenêtre

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1135, Couronnement de Louis (fenestre)
Inherited from
Latin fenestra via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (fenestra)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fenestra
French fenêtre

Pronunciation

  • IPA (France): /fə.nɛtʁ/[1]
  • IPA (France): /fnɛtʁ/[1]
  • IPA: [fə.nɛ.tʁə][1]
  • IPA: /fə.nɛːtʁ/[1]

Forms

fenêtre f (plural fenêtres)[1] Old and Middle French fenestre; the spelling fenêtre dates from the 16th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French fenestre, inherited from Latin fenestra (“opening in a wall; window; the frame closing it”).[3][4][5][6] The Latin word is of unknown origin: the Romans linked it with Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō, “to bring to light”), a connection Rey calls historically fictitious but perhaps an influence on its senses, and the theory of an Etruscan origin is not well supported.[4] Wiktionary marks an Etruscan source as possible.[1]

Cognate with Occitan fenestra and Catalan finestra, Walloon has finièse.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

As fenestre it is found about 1135 in the Couronnement de Louis, meaning a window, an opening in a wall.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Until the 16th century it also named the opening of a shop onto the street, and the shop itself, as in Villon's clorre fenestre “to shut up shop”.[4][7] Charles d'Orléans has the figurative sense “passage” about 1433 (les fenestres de mes yeulx).[3] Furetière (1690) records its use in anatomy and for a blank space left in a deed or manuscript.[3] The phrase faire la fenêtre, of a prostitute showing herself at a window, is found in 1789.[8]

By a shift from space to time, about 1965 it came to mean, in spaceflight, the period during which a launch is possible.[4] Derivatives include fenêtrer (before 1188, as a past participle “with windows”), porte-fenêtre (1676) and défenestrer “to throw out of a window” (1863).[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1135 – Fenestre in the Couronnement de Louis.[3]
  • c. 1433 – Figurative “passage”, in Charles d'Orléans.[3]
  • 16th century – The spelling fenêtre; the sense “shop” goes out of use.[2][4]
  • 1676 – Porte-fenêtre.[4]
  • 1690 – Furetière records the anatomical sense and the blank space in a document.[3]
  • 1789 – Faire la fenêtre, of a prostitute.[8]
  • c. 1965 – A launch window in spaceflight.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A window: an opening in a wall to let in light and air, with its frame: ouvrir la fenêtre, regarder par la fenêtre.[9][10]
  2. The glazed sash that closes such an opening.[11]
  3. A window of a vehicle: un coin fenêtre in a train.[9]
  4. A blank space left in a surface or a written document; the clear panel of an envelope.[11][3]
  5. (anatomy) Fenêtre ovale, fenêtre ronde: openings in the inner wall of the middle ear.[11]
  6. (mountaineering) A narrow gap in a ridge.[11]
  7. (spaceflight) A launch window.[4]

Word family

  • fenêtrage
  • contre-fenêtre
  • fenêtrer
  • porte-fenêtre
  • défenestrer

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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 c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 452a
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Fenêtre.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/fen%C3%AAtre. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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