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hoir

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Etymology and origin of the French word hoir

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100 Chanson de Roland More words from the 11th century
Inherited from
Latin *herem via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin hērēs

Pronunciation

Forms

hoir m (plural hoirs)[1] Old French heir (about 1100), oir (about 1196, Jean Bodel) and hoir (1273, Adenet).[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include eir, heire and heyr.[4] The Old French feminine was hoiresse (12th century).[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French heir, inherited from Vulgar Latin *hērem, a popular Latin accusative that replaced the classical accusative of Latin hērēs (“heir, legatee”).[3][6][2][7][8] Cognate with Old Occitan er.[6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as heir about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland, meaning “heir”: Et Jurfaret qu'est ses filz et ses heirs (“and Jurfaret, who is his son and his heir”).[3][9]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word belonged to law and inheritance; in the 13th century Beaumanoir uses it of the lawful heirs born and conceived in wedlock.[9] It competed with héritier, which, supported by héritage, ousted it from common use, so that hoir was left to legal language.[3][5][6] Old law had hoir de quenouille, a daughter who inherits, recorded by Cotgrave in 1611.[2][9]

Today it is an archaism of literature or history, except in Switzerland, where it still means a direct heir and is used in the plural of the heirs of an estate.[5][3][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Heir appears in the Chanson de Roland.[3][2]
  • c. 1196 – Jean Bodel writes oir.[2]
  • 1273 – The spelling hoir appears in Adenet.[2]
  • 1318 – The derivative hoirie is first recorded.[6][5]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave records hoir de quenouille.[2]
  • 1834 – Balzac uses ses hoirs in Eugénie Grandet.[3]
  • 1978 – A Lausanne newspaper writes of the hoirs F. in a land dispute.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (archaic, literary) An heir, especially a direct heir.[3][7][2]
  2. (law, Switzerland) A direct heir; in the plural, the joint heirs of an estate.[3][1][5]
  3. (history) Hoir de quenouille: a daughter who inherits.[9][2]

Word family

  • hoirie

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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
  4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 412b
  9. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Hoir.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/hoir. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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