Etymologically
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incroyable

Etymology and origin of the French word incroyable

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1500, Commynes (increables)
Ultimate origin
Latin (crēdō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛ̃.kʁwa.jabl/[1]

Forms

incroyable (plural incroyables)[1] Earlier increable (Commynes, about 1500; the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it to the 14th century); incroyable from 1513.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from French in- + croyable.[2][3][5][1][6] Old French had a single encreable (early 13th century), perhaps “untrustworthy”.[2] The base croyable is from croire, which continues Latin crēdō (“to believe”).[2] Littré notes that incredible was also once used.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Commynes (about 1500) writes of choses increables du froit “things beyond belief about the cold”.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Lemaire de Belges (1513) has magnificence incroyable, and Rabelais (1552) uses it for what is out of the ordinary.[2] Dorat (1780) applies it to an odd, ridiculous person.[2] Under the Directory (1795) les Incroyables were young dandies who wore extravagant clothes and affected a particular way of speaking.[2][1] The adverb incroyablement is mostly used as an intensive: incroyablement compliqué.[2]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – Encreable.[2]
  • c. 1500 – Increables, Commynes.[2]
  • 1513 – Incroyable, Lemaire de Belges.[2]
  • 1552 – “Out of the ordinary”, Rabelais.[2]
  • 1780 – Of a ridiculous person, Dorat.[2]
  • 1795 – Les Incroyables.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. incredible, unbelievable, hard to believe: un récit incroyable, incroyable mais vrai, il est incroyable que.[5][1]
  2. Extraordinary, amazing, (familiar) outrageous: une chance incroyable.[5][2]
  3. Of a person, extravagant, odd.[2][4]

Noun

  1. (history) An Incroyable: a dandy of the Directory period.[2][1]

Word family

  • incroyablement

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 p q r 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1301a
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
Cite this entry

“Incroyable.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/incroyable. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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