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honoraire

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Etymology and origin of the French word honoraire

honoraire1 honorary

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1496
Borrowed from
Latin honorarius
Ultimate origin
Latin honōs
Etymology tree of honoraire1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin honor
French honneur
Spanish honor
Italian onore
Romanian onoare
Latin honōrārius
English honorary
French honoraire
From the same root · honoraire1
French déshonneur ← honor
Latin honōrificus ← honor
Latin honorus ← honor

Pronunciation

  • /ɔ.nɔ.ʁɛʁ/[1]

Forms

honoraire (plural honoraires)[1]

Etymology

The word for the adjective “honorary” is borrowed from Latin honōrārius (“given as an honour, honorific”).[2][3][4][5] In classical Latin it meant “honourable”, and in legal Latin “held as an honour”.[3][4][6] It is derived from honōs (“honour”), the source of honneur.[6][4] Littré derives it instead from honōrō (“to honour”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1496 in tuteur honoraire, a guardian holding the title as an honour without managing the ward's property.[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

At first the word described someone who held a title “by way of honour” without exercising the office.[6] In the 16th century Cotgrave records chevaliers honoraires, and Montaigne speaks of favours that were honoraires et titulaires, sans substance (honorary and titular, without substance).[7] By extension, from 1680 (conseiller honoraire, Richelet), it was applied to a person who keeps the title of a post after ceasing to hold it,[2][6] a use the Belgians express with émérite.[6] The membre honoraire of a society, admitted without the usual conditions, appears in the early 18th century.[8]

Timeline

  • 1496 – Tuteur honoraire is recorded.[2][6]
  • 16th century – Cotgrave records chevaliers honoraires.[7]
  • 1680 – Richelet records conseiller honoraire, of a retired holder of the title.[2][6]
  • Early 18th century – Membre honoraire of a society appears.[8]
  • 1836 – The derivative honorariat appears.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Keeping the title and honorary privileges of a post after ceasing to hold it: un inspecteur honoraire.[9][2][10]
  2. Holding a title as an honour, without performing the function: président honoraire, chanoine honoraire.[9][7][10]
  3. Membre honoraire: a person admitted to a society as an honour, without meeting its usual conditions.[8][10]

Word family

  • honorariat

honoraire2 fee

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1592
Borrowed from
Latin honorarium
Ultimate origin
Latin honōs

Pronunciation

  • /ɔ.nɔ.ʁɛʁ/[1]

Forms

honoraire m, chiefly plural honoraires m pl[4][9]

Etymology

The word for the fee is borrowed from Latin honōrārium (“payment for an office, fee, gift”),[2][4][6] the neuter of the adjective honōrārius used as a noun, in full honōrārium dōnum, “a gift given as an honour”.[6][8][4] The adjective is the source of honoraire1.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the singular, in 1592 according to the Grand Robert and in 1597, in Du Vair, according to the TLFi and Rey,[4][2][6] meaning an honourable payment.[6][4]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense, a payment given as a mark of honour, is now archaic.[6][4] Voltaire explained that a member of a profession above the mechanical arts was given un honoraire rather than wages, which would have offended his pride.[4] From 1747 the word was narrowed to the payment for the services of a member of a liberal profession, such as a doctor or a lawyer.[6][4][9] It was used in the singular or the plural in the 18th century, but is now plural only, and is opposed to salaire.[6][8]

Timeline

  • 1592 – First record, in the singular.[4][9]
  • 1597 – Du Vair uses it in the singular.[2][6]
  • 1747 – Voltaire uses it for the fees of the liberal professions.[4][8][6]
  • 1771 – The Trévoux dictionary gives it in the singular or the plural.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (obsolete, singular) A payment given as a mark of honour.[4]
  2. (plural) Fees paid to a member of a liberal profession (doctor, lawyer, notary, architect) for services: régler les honoraires d'un notaire, note d'honoraires.[9][2][10]
  3. Dépassements d'honoraires: in the medical professions, a fee above the social security rate.[9]

Usage notes

The Grand Robert numbers the adjective 1 and the noun 2.[4] The noun was still used in the singular until the end of the 18th century and sometimes at the start of the 19th, as in Balzac; today only the plural honoraires is current.[8][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
  3. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 465a
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c d Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Honoraire.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/honoraire. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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