Etymologically
Log in

greffe

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word greffe

greffe1 court clerk's office

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1050 Rashi's glosses
Inherited from
Latin graphium via Old French
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek γραφεῖον
Etymology tree of greffe1
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō)
Ancient Greek γραφεῖον (grapheîon)
Latin graphium
French greffe
Spanish garfio
The journey of greffe1
From the same root · greffe1
Ancient Greek αὐτόγραφος (autógraphos) ← γράφω
Ancient Greek γράμμα (grámma) ← γράφω
Ancient Greek γραμμή (grammḗ) ← γράφω
Ancient Greek γραφή (graphḗ) ← γράφω
Ancient Greek διαγράφω (diagráphō) ← γράφω
Ancient Greek προγράφω (prográphō) ← γράφω
Ancient Greek συγγράφω (sungráphō) ← γράφω
English graft ← γραφεῖον

Pronunciation

Forms

greffe m (plural greffes)[1]

Etymology

The word for the clerk's office is inherited from Old French grafie, inherited from Latin graphium (“stylus”), which is from Ancient Greek γραφεῖον (grapheîon), from γράφω (gráphō, “to write”).[2][3][1] The TLFi takes the office sense as a back-formation from greffier “clerk” (1278);[4][5] the GLLF and Larousse also derive this word from the name of the clerk,[6][7] while Rey takes the clerk's name as the derivative.[2] Littré explains the shift from “stylus” to “the place where one writes and keeps what is written”.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as grafie in Rashi's glosses (mid-11th century), and in the first half of the 12th century, in the Cambridge Psalter, as a stylus for writing.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “stylus” lasted into the 16th century.[4] In 1278 the word named the office that kept the accounts of the royal household; since the early 14th century it has named the office where the minutes of judgments are kept.[4][2][6] From 1636 it also meant the post and fees of a clerk, a sense now archaic.[4][2]

Timeline

  • Mid-11th century – Grafie in Rashi's glosses.[4]
  • First half of the 12th century – “Stylus” in the Cambridge Psalter.[4]
  • 1278 – The office keeping the accounts of the royal household;[4][2] greffier is recorded the same year.[4][2]
  • Early 14th century – The court registry.[6][2]
  • 1636 – Monet records the sense “post of clerk”.[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (law) The registry or clerk's office of a court, where the minutes of judgments are kept.[6][7]
  2. (obsolete) The post of clerk.[6][4]

Word family

  • greffier

greffe2 graft

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1240 Vie d'Édouard le Confesseur
Inherited from
Old French greife
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek γραφεῖον

Pronunciation

Forms

greffe f (plural greffes)[1] Old French greife, masculine until 1538, when Robert Estienne has the modern form.[3][2]

Etymology

The word for the graft is inherited from Old French greife, a metaphorical use of Old French grefe (“stylus”), from Latin graphium (“stylus”), the source of greffe¹.[4][3][2][1] The TLFi notes that the Latin word already had this sense in the glosses.[4] Etymonline explains the name by the likeness of the pencil-shaped shoots to a stylus.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as greife in the Vie d'Édouard le Confesseur (about 1240), for a shoot inserted into another plant: Bon greife quant de bon cep crest.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The sense “act of grafting” follows in La Quintinie (1690).[4][6] By analogy the word was used for living beings: greffe animale (1782, Condorcet).[4][2] Surgery has given it many modern uses, greffe d'organes competing with transplantation, and compounds such as autogreffe.[2][10] The verb greffer (1536) replaced graffer (1496).[2] The English graft is a late 15th-century alteration of Middle English graff, from Old French graife.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1240 – Greife in the Vie d'Édouard le Confesseur.[4]
  • Late 15th century – English graft is recorded.[9]
  • 1536 – The verb greffer is recorded.[2]
  • 1538 – Robert Estienne has greffe as a feminine noun.[3][2]
  • 1690 – La Quintinie uses it for the act of grafting.[4]
  • 1782 – Greffe animale in Condorcet.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (horticulture) A graft or scion, a shoot inserted into another plant; also greffon.[10][7]
  2. (horticulture) The act of grafting and its result: greffe en écusson.[10][4]
  3. (surgery) The transplantation of tissue or an organ: greffe du cœur.[10][7]

Word family

  • greffer
  • greffon
  • greffoir

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 o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 243a
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Greffe.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/greffe. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·