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Etymology and origin of the French word gel

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100 Chanson de Roland More words from the 11th century
Inherited from
Latin gelu via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin gelū
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin gelū
French gel
Italian gelo
Romanian ger
Spanish hielo
From the same root
Latin gelidus ← gelū
Latin gelō ← gelū
Romanian gerar ← ger

Pronunciation

Forms

gel m (plural gels)[1] Old French giel, replaced by gel in the 13th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French giel, inherited from Latin gelū (“frost, ice, severe cold”).[5][2][3][6] The modern form is a 13th-century remaking of the Old French one.[2] The Latin word belongs to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”), also behind glaciēs (“ice”), English cold and German kalt.[2][7][1]

Cognate with Romanian ger, Italian gelo, Occitan gèl and Spanish hielo.[7][8]

For the sense “gel” (a colloid), Wiktionary compares the English word gel and gélatine.[1] The English word (1899) is a chemical term shortened from gelatin.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as giels in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), for the cold that brings frost: veit les tuneires e les venz e les giels “he sees the thunder, the winds and the frosts”.[5][10]

Semantic evolution

Gel named first the cold that causes freezing, then the freezing of water itself (1584).[5][2] It was rare from the 16th century until the 20th, except in the sense “action of freezing”, le gel et le dégel;[3] Rey says it left common use until the middle of the 19th century,[2] and Bloch and Wartburg still call it little used.[8]

In the 20th century it took the figurative sense of a halt or freeze, first in economics: gel des monnaies (1939), later gel des crédits.[5][2][11] By likeness of appearance it became a physics and chemistry term for a soft, translucent substance formed from a colloidal solution (1898),[2][3] and about 1968 a cosmetic term.[2] In Canada it is also a colloquial word for the autumn freeze-up.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Giels appears in the Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • 13th century – The form gel replaces giel.[2][3]
  • 1584 – Used of the freezing of water.[5][2]
  • 1898 – First use as a physics term for a colloidal substance.[2]
  • 1923 – The compound antigel “antifreeze” appears.[2]
  • 1939 – Gel des monnaies, the economic sense.[5]
  • c. 1968 – Used as a term of cosmetics.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. frost, freezing weather.[7][5][12]
  2. The freezing of water, in the ground, in pipes or in plants.[7][11]
  3. (figurative) A freeze or halt of an activity, especially an economic one: le gel des crédits.[7][12][11]
  4. (physics, chemistry) A gel: a soft, semi-solid substance formed from a colloidal solution.[7][12][3]
  5. A translucent cosmetic or hygiene product based on water or oil: gel coiffant “hair gel”.[7][13]
  6. (Canada, colloquial) The autumn freeze-up.[1]

Word family

  • gélifier
  • antigel

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 90a
  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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  11. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  13. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Gel.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/gel. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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