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gratte-ciel

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Etymology and origin of the French word gratte-ciel

Confidence
Established
Formation
Calque, Compound
First attested
1911 Fougères, Les Villes d'art célèbres: Athènes More words from the 20th century
Ultimate origin
English skyscraper
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French gratter
Spanish gratar
French gratte-ciel

Pronunciation

  • /ɡʁat.sjɛl/[1]

Forms

gratte-ciel m (plural gratte-ciel or gratte-ciels)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French gratter (“to scrape”) + ciel (“sky”), the verb appearing in the form gratte.[2][3][4] The compound translates the American English sky-scraper, recorded in 1891 and itself formed from sky and scraper (“something that scrapes”); such buildings had been put up in the United States since 1883.[5][4][6][1] French also took over the English word itself, from 1895.[5][7] It belongs to the series of French compounds of a verb and its object, beside gratte-papier (1578) and gratte-cul (1530).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is from 1911, in Fougères's book on Athens, quoted in the Revue de philologie française, meaning a very tall building with many storeys.[5] The Grand Robert, the GLLF and Bloch and Wartburg date the word to the end of the 19th century, from the same journal.[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the many-storeyed buildings of American cities and was then extended to any building remarkable for its height.[4][3] In the soldiers' slang of the First World War it was used of a very tall man (1915), as Sainéan recorded in his book on the language of the trenches.[5]

Its plural has long been invariable, des gratte-ciel, but the Petit Robert also allows des gratte-ciels.[2][3][1]

Timeline

  • 1883 – The first such buildings are put up in the United States.[5]
  • 1891 – The American English word sky-scraper is recorded.[5]
  • 1895 – French borrows sky-scraper in its English form.[5]
  • 1911 – Gratte-ciel is used of a very tall building.[5]
  • 1915 – It is used in trench slang for a very tall man.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A skyscraper, a very tall building with a great many storeys: Les gratte-ciel de Shanghai se reflètent dans le fleuve.[3][5]
  2. By extension, any construction remarkable for its height.[4]
  3. (slang, dated) A very tall man.[5]

Usage notes

The plural is usually invariable (des gratte-ciel), as the noun is formed from a verb and a noun; the spelling gratte-ciels is also accepted.[2][3][1] The English word itself, building, is a French synonym.[5][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 114b
Cite this entry

“Gratte-ciel.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/gratte-ciel. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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