Etymology and origin of the French word joueur
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1155 Wace, Roman de Brut (feminine joeresse) More words from the 12th century
- Ultimate origin
- Latin jocor
Etymology tree
From the same root
Forms
joueur m (plural joueurs, feminine joueuse)[1] Old French joëor, jüere, feminine joeresse.[2][3]
Etymology
It is formed from French jouer + -eur,[2][1][4] the verb being from Latin jocor (“to jest, to play”), which in Late Latin replaced lūdō.[4][5]
Cognate with Old Occitan joguaire, Spanish jugador and Italian giuocatore.[6]
Earliest recorded meaning
The feminine joeresse appears in Wace's Roman de Brut (1155) for a travelling dancer or musician;[2][7] about 1170 Béroul's Tristan calls a horse le bel joëor “the fine dancer”.[2]
Semantic evolution
The word lost its first sense of “dancer, minstrel”, close to jongleur, for “person who plays” (about 1165, jüere as dés “dice player”).[7][2] It followed several uses of the verb: a player of an instrument (13th century), a gambler (about 1400).[7] Robert Estienne records joueur de farces “fairground actor” in 1538.[8]
The adjective “playful” is recorded from 1690 (Furetière).[2][7] Beau joueur is in Furetière (1690) and bon joueur in Littré (1867); the sense “member of a sports team” is dated by the GLLF to Montherlant in 1924.[8]
Timeline
- 1155 – The feminine joeresse in Wace's Brut.[2]
- c. 1165 – Jüere as dés “dice player”.[2]
- c. 1170 – Béroul calls a horse le bel joëor.[2]
- c. 1210 – Joëor “minstrel” in Dolopathos.[2]
- c. 1400 – First used of a gambler.[7]
- 1538 – Joueur de farces “fairground actor”.[8]
- 1690 – Furetière records the adjective and beau joueur.[2][8]
- 1924 – Montherlant uses it of a team player.[8]
Meanings
Noun
- A player: a person who plays a game: un joueur d'échecs, une joueuse de golf.[9][8]
- A member of a sports team.[8][9]
- A gambler, someone with a passion for games of chance.[9][7]
- A person who plays a musical instrument: joueur de flûte.[7][8]
- Beau joueur, bon joueur: a good loser, who accepts defeat fairly.[9][8]
Adjective
Related words
Usage notes
The saying il n'est jeu qu'à joueurs is recorded by Cotgrave.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
- ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
- ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 39b
- ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Joueur.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/joueur. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.
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