Etymologically
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jambe

Etymology and origin of the French word jambe

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (gambes)
Inherited from
Latin gamba
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (καμπή)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʒɑ̃b/[1]

Forms

jambe f (plural jambes)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin gamba (“pastern or hock of a horse”), a veterinary word extended to other four-legged animals and then to people.[2][3][4][5] The Latin word was a popular borrowing of Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ, “bend; joint of a horse's foot”), which Rey compares with Lithuanian kampas (“corner”).[2][3][6] It drove out the classical word for the leg, crūs, while Spanish and Portuguese took perna (“ham”) instead (Spanish pierna, Portuguese perna).[2][3] The form “camba” lives on in Old Occitan and in the dialects south of a line from the Gironde to Romand Switzerland.[3]

Cognate with Italian gamba, Occitan camba and Catalan cama.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) uses it of a horse: Pieds a copiez et les gambes a plates (“it has hollow hooves and flat legs”).[8][2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is used of a person's leg from about 1150.[2] By analogy it named the upright of a doorway (1321), the legs of a pair of compasses (1546), a strut in carpentry (jambe de force, 1609) and a wooden leg (1564), whence un cautère sur une jambe de bois “a useless remedy” (1808).[2] English jamb was taken from it.[9]

Many phrases date from the 17th century on: prendre ses jambes à son col (1618), later à son cou (1690); par-dessous la jambe (1671), later par-dessus la jambe (1844), probably from ball games; and cela me fait une belle jambe, used ironically by 1656.[2][10] Tenir la jambe à quelqu'un “to buttonhole someone” dates from 1901 and partie de jambes en l'air from 1894.[2] The leg of a pair of trousers is jambe in Zola (1879).[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Of a horse, in the Chanson de Roland.[8][4]
  • c. 1150 – A human leg.[2]
  • 1321 – A door jamb.[2]
  • 1564 – Jambe de bois.[2]
  • 1618 – Prendre ses jambes à son col.[2]
  • 1656 – Ironic cela me fait une belle jambe.[10]
  • 1879 – The leg of a garment, in Zola.[10]
  • 1901 – Tenir la jambe à quelqu'un.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (anatomy) The leg between knee and ankle.[7][11]
  2. The whole leg: avoir de longues jambes.[12][7]
  3. The leg of an animal.[13][2]
  4. The leg of a pair of trousers.[12][10]
  5. (building) A pier or strut: jambe de force.[12][2]
  6. Prendre ses jambes à son cou: to take to one's heels.[2]
  7. Par-dessus la jambe: offhandedly, tenir la jambe à quelqu'un: to buttonhole someone.[2]
  8. (ironic) Ça me fait une belle jambe: a fat lot of good that does me.[2][7]

Word family

  • jambage
  • jambette
  • jambier
  • jambière
  • jambon
  • enjambé
  • enjambée
  • enjamber
  • entrejambe
  • unijambiste
  • gambade
  • ingambe
  • Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ)
  • English jamb

References

  1. ^ a b 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c 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. 2, 111a
  6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ a b c d e Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  13. ^ 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

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Jambe.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/jambe. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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