AD 1–100

French words from Latin words first recorded in the 1st century

10 French words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 1st century, earliest Latin record first.

1. planter

   1–99

   from Latin planto

   It is inherited from Old French planter, inherited from Latin plantō (“to tread down the soil; to plant”), used in rustic Latin for pressing down the soil round a cutting. The Latin verb is from…

2. jais

   23–79

   from Latin gagates

   It is a contraction, inherited from Old French jaiet, which is inherited from Latin gagātem (“jet”), the accusative of “gagātēs” (Pliny), from Ancient Greek γαγάτης (gagátēs), literally “stone of…

3. pervenche

   23–79

   from Latin pervinca

   It is inherited from Old French parvenche, inherited from Late Latin pervinca, a form implied by Italian pervinca and Catalan pervinca, short for Latin vincapervinca, the plant's Latin name. The…

4. panais

   25–35

   from Latin pastinaca

   It is inherited from Old French pasnaie, inherited from Latin pastināca (“parsnip, carrot”), a name of several umbellifers, which Rey and the Petit Robert derive, perhaps, from pastinum (“dibble…

5. dessus

   35–96

   from Latin desursum

   It is inherited from Old French desus, inherited from Late Latin dēsūrsum (“from above”), a compound of dē and sūrsum (“up, upward”). “Dēsūrsum” was a word of popular Latin under the Empire…

6. jour

   35–40

   from Latin diurnum

   It is inherited from Old French jorn, inherited from Late Latin diurnum (“day”). In classical Latin “diurnum”, the neuter of the adjective diurnus (“of the day, daily”), was a noun meaning “daily…

7. ensemble

   45–96

   from Latin insimul

   It is inherited from Latin īnsimul (“at the same time, together”), an imperial Latin strengthening of simul (“together”), or a popular *insemul, remade after “semul”, the archaic form of “simul”…

8. jaune

   60–66

   from Latin galbinus

   It is inherited from Old French jalne, inherited from Latin galbinus (“pale green, yellowish”), from galbus (“yellow, greenish yellow”), a word of unknown origin. “Galbinus”, which rendered Ancient…

9. savon

   77

   from Latin sapo

   It is inherited from Old French savon, inherited from Latin sāpō (“soap”) (accusative “sāpōnem”), which Pliny describes as a mixture of tallow and ashes invented by the Gauls to redden their hair…

10. reposer

    100–299

    from Latin repauso

    1. The verb “to rest” is inherited from Late Latin repausō (“to calm; to rest”) (4th century), from the intensive re- and Late Latin pausō (“to cease, stop”) (see poser), from pausa (“stop, pause”)…

All French words inherited from Latin, by century →