300–201 BC

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

288 French words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 3rd century BC, earliest Latin record first (page 4).

joie
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin gaudium

It is inherited from Latin gaudia (“joys”), the plural of the neuter “gaudium” “contentment, pleasure, joy”, which was common in familiar Latin and in late times was taken as a feminine singular…
joindre
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin iungo

It is inherited from Old French joindre, inherited from Latin iungō (“to yoke; to join, unite”). The Latin verb belongs to the Indo-European group of iugum (“yoke”), the source of joug: from the…
juger
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin iudico

It is inherited from Old French jugier, inherited from Latin iūdicō (“to pass judgement; to decide, assess”), from iūdex (“judge”) (see juge). Littré and the GLLF analyse “iūdex” as formed from iūs…
large
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin largus

It is inherited from Old French large, the feminine of the old adjective larc, inherited from Latin largus (“abundant, plentiful; generous”); the feminine form came to serve for both genders. Latin…
lent
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin lentus

It is inherited from Old French lent, inherited from Latin lentus (“supple, pliant; sticky; sluggish, slow”). The origin of the Latin adjective is obscure: it may be an Etruscan loan, and the…
lever
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin levo

It is inherited from Old French lever, inherited from Latin levō (“to lighten, relieve; to lift up”), a verb formed from levis (“light (in weight)”), so properly “to make light”. Rey explains that…
ligne
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin linea

It is inherited from Latin līnea (“linen thread, string; line”), the feminine used as a noun of līneus (“of flax”), from līnum (“flax”) (whence lin). In Latin it named a linen thread, then any cord…
lit
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin lectus

It is inherited from Old French lit, inherited from Latin lectus (“bed; couch; marriage bed”). The Latin word belongs to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie down”), seen in…
livrer
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin libero

It is inherited from Old French livrer, inherited from Latin līberō (“to set free”), from līber (“free”). In popular Latin the verb had come to mean “to let go”, then “to hand over, supply”; Littré…
maigre
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin macer

It is inherited from Old French meigre, inherited from Latin macer (“lean, thin; poor (of soil)”), in its accusative form. The DHLF relates it to Ancient Greek μακρός (makrós, “long”). The expected…
mail
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin malleus

1. The mallet is inherited from Old French mail, inherited from Latin malleus (“hammer, mallet”), a technical word that Rey compares with Old Church Slavonic млатъ (mlatŭ, “hammer”) and Old Norse…
manteau
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mantellum

It is inherited from Old French mantel, inherited from Latin mantellum (“covering, cloak”), a variant of mantēlum (already in Plautus in the sense “veil”), related to mantēlium (“napkin, towel”)…
marché
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mercatus

It is inherited from Old French marchié, inherited from Latin mercātus (“trade; market”), from mercor (“to trade”), from merx (“goods”), a word perhaps connected with the god Mercury. It is a…
mari
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin maritus

It is inherited from Latin marītus (“husband”). The Latin word was first an adjective in farming, “joined”, of a tree to which a vine was trained, then “conjugal”; as a noun it displaced vir (“man”)…
masse
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin massa

1. The word for a mass is inherited from Latin massa (“dough; lump, mass”), a borrowing of Ancient Greek μᾶζα (mâza, “barley cake; lump”). The Greek word is derived from μάσσω (mássō, “to knead”)…
masser
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin massa

1. “To mass” is formed from masse “mass” with the ending -er. The noun is inherited from Latin massa (“lump of dough; mass”), from Ancient Greek μᾶζα (mâza, “barley cake”). 2. “To massage” is…
menu
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin minutus

It is inherited from Old French menu, inherited from Latin minūtus (“small, fine”), the past participle of minuō (“to lessen”), which shares its stem with minus (“less”). In popular Latin minūtus…
merci
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin merces

It is inherited from Old French mercit, inherited from Latin mercēs (“wages, reward; price, (Late Latin) favour, mercy”), accusative “mercēdem”. The Latin word meant “wages, reward, pay, interest”…
meuble
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mobilis

It is inherited from Old French moeble, inherited from Latin mōbilis (“that can be moved; changeable”), whose long ⟨o⟩ became short in popular Latin under the influence of moveō (“to move”). In…
moindre
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin minor

It is the Old French nominative “meindre”, inherited from Latin minor (“smaller, less”), the comparative of parvus (“small”). The accusative “minōrem” gave the oblique case “meneur”, but by the end…
mois
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mensis

It is inherited from Old French meis, inherited from Latin mēnsis (“month, (plural) menses”). The Latin word first meant the lunar month: in the Indo-European languages the name of the month was at…
montrer
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin monstro

It is inherited from Old French mostrer, inherited from Latin mōnstrō (“to show, point out; to advise”), derived from mōnstrum (“portent, divine sign”) (see monstre). The ⟨n⟩ was restored after the…
net
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin nitidus

1. The adjective is inherited from Latin nitidus (“shining, bright; clean; elegant”), through a contracted Vulgar Latin form *nittus, according to Wiktionary. Nitidus comes from niteō (“to shine”)…
noir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin niger

It is inherited from Old French neir, inherited from Latin niger (“black, dark; ill-omened”) (accusative “nigrum”). Latin “niger”, the counterpart of Ancient Greek μέλας (mélas), has no known…
ombre
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin umbra

It is inherited from Old French umbre, inherited from Latin umbra (“shadow; shade; ghost; semblance”). Rey finds plausible a link with Sanskrit अन्धस् (ándhas, “darkness”), Wiktionary suggests an…
oncle
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin avunculus

It is inherited from Old French oncle, inherited from Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”), through Vulgar Latin *aunclum. The central /u/ fell and the /w/ of the first syllable weakened, Littré notes…
ouvrier
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin operarius

It is inherited from Old French ovrier, inherited from Latin operārius (“of work; labourer”), from opera (“work, effort”) (see œuvre). The very rare opéraire is a learned doublet. Cognate with…
pain
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin panis

It is inherited from Latin pānis (“bread; lump, loaf, (Church Latin) food”), from its accusative “pānem”. Rey notes that the diminutive pāstillus (see pastille) suggests an older “*pasn-”, recalling…
paix
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pax

It is inherited from Old French pais, inherited from Latin pāx (“peace”) (genitive “pācis”). Bloch and Wartburg explain the Old French form as remade on the verb apaiser, replacing the regular…
parent
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin parens

It is inherited from Latin parēns (“father or mother, (plural) parents”), through its accusative “parentem”. The Latin word, a noble literary substitute for “pater” and “mater”, is the present…
partir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin partio

It is inherited from Old French partir, inherited from Latin partiō (“to divide, share”), the popular form of classical partior, from pars (“part”). It first meant “to divide, share out”; the sense…
parvenir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pervenio

It is inherited from Latin perveniō (“to arrive at, reach; to attain”), from per (“through”) and veniō (“to come”) (see venir). Compare Old Occitan pervenir, Spanish pervenir and Italian pervenire.
pauvre
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pauper

It is inherited from Old French povre, inherited from Latin pauper (“poor, needy”). The Latin word is probably to be analysed as “pau-per-os” “producing little”, said first of land and livestock; it…
peau
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pellis

It is inherited from Old French pel, inherited from Latin pellis (“animal skin, fur; leather; parchment”). In popular Latin it replaced cutis (“human skin”) (compare cutané). Rey and the Petit…
personne
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin persona

It is inherited from Old French persone, inherited from Latin persōna (“actor's mask; role, character; person”). The Latin word first meant a theatre mask, then the role given to the mask and…
plaisir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin placeo

It is the old infinitive inherited from Old French plaisir (“to please”), used as a noun, inherited from Latin placeō (“to please”). As an infinitive “plaisir” was replaced in the 13th century by…
plume
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pluma

It is inherited from Old French plume, inherited from Latin plūma (“down; feather”). The Latin word, properly “down”, was distinct from penna (“feather”), the source of penne and panne; in nearly…
poids
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pensum

It is inherited from Old French pois, inherited from Latin pēnsum (“what a thing weighs; the weight of wool given to a slave to spin, a task”), through a popular *pēsum. The Latin noun is the neuter…
poisson
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin piscis

It is inherited from Old French peisson, a very early derivative with the suffix -on of Old French peis, pois (“fish”), inherited from Latin piscis (“fish”). The simple form survives only in…
porte
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin porta

It is inherited from Old French porte, inherited from Latin porta (“gate”). The Latin word meant first “passage”, then the gate under a city wall, as opposed to forēs, the door of a house; that…
poursuivre
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin prosequor

It is inherited from Old French porsivre, inherited from Late Latin prōsequor (“to follow, accompany; to prosecute (a case)”), reshaped after pour and suivre. The Late Latin verb is found in the 6th…
pousser
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pulso

It is inherited from Latin pulsō (“to push, strike repeatedly, beat”), a frequentative formed on “pulsum”, the supine of pellō (“to set in motion, drive”). “Pellō” rests on a stem “*pel-” also…
premier
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin primarius

It is inherited from Latin prīmārius (“of the first rank”), a derivative of Latin prīmus (“first”), which survived in Old French as “prin”, still used around Lyon for “fine, thin” (see prime…
presser
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin presso

It is inherited from Latin pressāre (“to press”), a word avoided by classical prose but used by Plautus and the Augustan poets; it is an intensive formed on pressum, the supine of premō (“to press…
privé
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin privatus

It is inherited from Old French privé, inherited from Latin prīvātus (“particular, one's own, individual, (as a noun) a private citizen”). The Latin word is the past participle of prīvō (“to set…
pur
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin purus

It is inherited from Latin pūrus (“spotless, unstained; clean, clear; unmixed”). The Latin word belonged above all to religious language, like its Greek counterpart Ancient Greek καθαρός (katharós)…
quart
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin quartus

It is inherited from Latin quārtus (“fourth”), from quattuor (“four”) (see quatre). Rey treats the adjective as borrowed, and the noun either as the adjective used as a noun or as a direct borrowing…
raison
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin ratio

It is inherited from Old French raison, inherited from Latin ratiō (“reckoning, account; reason”) (accusative “ratiōnem”). The Latin noun is from “ratum”, the supine of reor (“to reckon, think”)…
recevoir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin recipio

It is inherited from Old French receivre, inherited from Latin recipiō (“to take back; to accept, welcome”), from re- and capiō (“to take, seize”). The modern infinitive replaced the regular…
reine
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin regina

It is inherited from Old French reïne, inherited from Latin rēgīna (“queen”), the feminine of Latin rēx (“king”) (see roi). The modern pronunciation comes from the West. Middle French also had the…
sac
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin saccus

1. The bag is inherited from Latin saccus (“sack, bag; strainer”), borrowed from Ancient Greek σάκκος (sákkos, “coarse cloth; sack”). Rey traces the Greek word, a commercial term for packing cloth…
salut
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin salus

It is inherited from Old French salut, inherited from Latin salūs (“health; safety; greeting”), from the accusative “salūtem”. The Latin word meant the state of being whole and sound, safety, life…
santé
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sanitas

It is inherited from Old French santé, inherited from Latin sānitās (“health of body and mind”) (accusative sānitātem), from sānus (“healthy”), the source of sain. The Latin word had also been taken…
sauter
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin salto

It is inherited from Latin saltō (“to dance, (Late Latin) to jump”), the frequentative of saliō (“to jump, leap”). “Saltāre” properly meant “to jump”, but in classical Latin it was used for dancing…
sec
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin siccus

It is inherited from Old French sec, inherited from Latin siccus (“dry; sober; cold, unemotional”), which Rey relates to Ancient Greek ἰσχνός (iskhnós, “dry, lean”) and to the root of Sanskrit…
sentir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sentio

It is inherited from Latin sentiō (“to perceive by the senses or the mind; to think, judge; to vote”). The Latin verb also meant “to realize”, “to have in mind” and “to be affected by”. Its origin…
sept
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin septem

It is inherited from Old French set, inherited from Latin septem (“seven”). The ⟨p⟩ is an etymological spelling and has never been pronounced. The Latin word has exact counterparts in Ancient Greek…
servir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin servio

It is inherited from Old French servir, inherited from Latin serviō (“to be a slave; to be subject to; to be useful”). The Latin verb is derived from servus (“slave”) (see serf), a word of obscure…
signer
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin signo

It is inherited from Old French seignier, remade after signe, inherited from Latin signō (“to mark with a sign; to seal; to designate”), from signum (“sign, mark”). Rabelais (1534) still wrote “se…
six
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sex

It is inherited from Old French sis, inherited from Latin sex (“six”). Wiktionary traces the Latin numeral to Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs. Rey compares Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃 (saihs)…

All French words inherited from Latin, by century →