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lézard

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Etymology and origin of the French word lézard

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1075–1100 Rashi's glosses More words from the 11th century
Inherited from
Latin lacertus via Middle French, Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin lacertus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin lacertus
French lézard
From the same root
English alligator ← lacertus

Pronunciation

  • France: /le.zaʁ/[1]
  • Quebec: /le.zɑːʁ/[1]
  • Quebec: [le.zɑɔ̯ʁ][1]

Forms

lézard m (plural lézards)[1] Old French feminine lajjsarde, laisarde, leisarde, lisarde; masculine lesard, lezart;[2][3][4][5] Middle French lesar, lusard.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle French lezart, inherited from Old French lesard, inherited from Latin lacertus (“lizard”), with its ending replaced by the suffix -ard.[2][6][1] Old French more often had the feminine laisarde, from the Latin feminine lacerta; the masculine replaced it about 1460.[2][3][6] The Grand Robert and the GLLF instead treat the masculine as drawn from the feminine noun.[7][4]

The DHLF notes that the Latin word looks like the same word as the Latin noun for the muscle of the upper arm, and that it has no known etymology.[3] The word survived in the Romance languages in many altered forms, largely under the influence of lūx (“light”): Italian lucerta, Old Occitan lauzert, lazeri, Catalan llagart, Spanish lagarto and Portuguese lagarto.[6][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is lajjsarde in Rashi's French glosses (late 11th century), for one of the creeping animals of Leviticus 11:30, the lizard.[2][3] About 1125 Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire has laisarde.[2]

Semantic evolution

The small agile reptile that lies motionless in the sun gave faire le lézard “to bask lazily in the sun” (1832), from which comes the verb lézarder.[3][2] By metonymy it names the animal's skin used as leather (1922).[2][3]

The old feminine survives as lézarde “crack in a wall” (1676), likened to the long body of a lizard and perhaps to its habit of hiding in cracks.[3][6] About 1980 slang took up lézard for a difficulty, drawing on an older slang lésard “swindler”, from léser or lésiner, and on lézarde; hence il n'y a pas de lézard “no problem”.[3][8]

English lizard (late 14th century, lusarde) came from Anglo-Norman lusard and Old French laisarde.[9]

Timeline

  • Late 11th century – Lajjsarde in Rashi's glosses on Leviticus.[2][3]
  • 1121–1134 – Laisarde in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire.[2]
  • 13th century – The masculine form lesard is recorded.[2][3]
  • c. 1290 – Walter of Bibbesworth has lezart.[2]
  • c. 1460 – Villon has lesar; the masculine replaces the feminine.[4][3]
  • 16th century – The derivative lézardeau “young lizard” appears.[3]
  • 1676 – Lézarde “crack in a wall” is recorded.[6][3]
  • 1832 – Karr has faire le lézard.[2]
  • 1922 – Giraudoux uses it for lizard skin.[2][3]
  • c. 1980 – The slang sense “problem” appears.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A lizard, a small reptile with four short legs and a long tapering tail: le lézard vert, le lézard des murailles.[8][2][1]
  2. Faire le lézard: to bask lazily in the sun.[8][2]
  3. Lizard skin used as leather: un sac en lézard.[8][2]
  4. (slang) A problem, a hitch: (il n')y a pas de lézard, no problem.[8][3]

Word family

  • lézardeau
  • lézardet
  • lézarder

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 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
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Lézard.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/l%C3%A9zard. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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