200s

French words from Latin words first recorded in the 3rd century

12 French words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 3rd century, earliest Latin record first.

1. approcher

   220

   from Latin appropio

   It is inherited from Old French aprochier, inherited from Late Latin appropiō (“to draw near”), a verb of Church writers formed on Latin prope (“near”); the Latin /pj/ gave ⟨ch⟩, as in proche and…

2. avant

   220

   from Latin abante

   It is inherited from Late Latin abante (“before, in front”), formed from ab (“from”) and ante (“before, in front of”). The Latin word, found in inscriptions and dated to the 2nd century, was both…

3. dans

   220

   from Latin deintus

   It is inherited from Old French denz, inherited from Late Latin deintus (“inside, within”), a compound of dē and intus (“from within; inside”). “Intus” is a derivative of in (whence en), and on its…

4. dehors

   220

   from Latin deforis

   It is inherited from Old French defors, inherited from Late Latin dēforis (“from outside; outside”), formed from Latin dē (“from”) and forīs (“out of doors”), which also gave fors. The form “dehors”…

5. derrière

   220

   from Latin deretro

   It is inherited from Old French deriere, inherited from Late Latin dēretrō (“behind”), the welding of “dē retrō”, from dē, marking the point of departure, and retrō (“backwards, behind”). The…

6. découvrir

   220

   from Latin discooperio

   It is inherited from Old French descovrir, inherited from Late Latin discooperiō (“to uncover”) (in the Vulgate), formed from dis- (“apart”) and Latin cooperiō (“to cover completely”), the source of…

7. ennuyer

   220

   from Latin inodio

   It is inherited from Old French enoier, inherited from Late Latin inodiāre (“to be hateful”), formed on the classical phrase in odiō esse (“to be an object of hatred”), in which the second word is…

8. prêt

   220

   from Latin praestus

   1. The adjective is inherited from Old French prest, inherited from Late Latin praestus (“ready, at hand”), found in inscriptions and the Salic Law. “Praestus” was formed on the classical adverb…

9. sauver

   260

   from Latin salvo

   It is inherited from Old French salver, inherited from Late Latin salvō (“to make well; to preserve; to deliver, (Christian) to save”), from Latin salvus (“well, safe”), the source of sauf. Cognate…

10. filer

    300–399

    from Latin filo

    It is inherited from Late Latin fīlō (“to draw out into threads; to make flow in a thread”), derived from fīlum (“thread”) (see fil). Cognate with Italian filare, Catalan filar, Old Occitan filar…

11. pardonner

    300–499

    from Latin perdono

    It is inherited from Old French pardoner, inherited from Late Latin perdōnō (“to grant, concede (life, a favour)”), recorded only once, in the “Aesop” of Romulus (between 350 and 500). The Late…

12. poser

    300–399

    from Latin pauso

    It is inherited from Old French poser, inherited from Vulgar Latin pausō (“to cease, stop”), derived from pausa (“pause”) (see pause), from Greek: from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, “I stop, cease”), of…

All French words inherited from Latin, by century →