Etymology and origin of the French word louer
louer1 to praise
From the same root · louer1
Pronunciation
Forms
louer[1] Old French lauder (about 980) and loer (about 1100); the form louer appears in the 14th century.[2][3][4]
Etymology
The verb “to praise” is inherited from Old French loer, inherited from Latin laudō (“to praise, approve, extol”).[2][3][5][4] The Latin verb is derived from laus (“praise, merit, glory”), whose favourable sense Rey explains from an older “act of naming”, perhaps helped by its use for the last call addressed to the dead and the funeral eulogy; the origin of the Latin word is unexplained.[3]
Cognate with Italian lodare, Old Occitan lauzar, Catalan lloar, Spanish loar and Portuguese louvar.[6][7]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Vie de saint Léger (second half of the 10th century) lauder means to give praise; the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has loer.[2]
Semantic evolution
The verb kept its first sense, to praise or congratulate, but lost the sense “to advise”, alive from 1080 to the 16th century, and the legal sense “to approve” (1248), out of use by the 14th century.[3][2] The reflexive se louer de came first, meaning “to boast of” (about 1100) and then “to be pleased with” (about 1160).[2][3]
Its derivatives go back to the 12th century: louable (about 1120), louange (about 1120), which drove out the old noun los, and loueur (about 1180), little used because of the homonym from the other louer.[3][2]
Timeline
- c. 980 – Lauder in the Vie de saint Léger.[2][3]
- c. 1100 – Loer in the Chanson de Roland, where it also means “to advise”.[2]
- c. 1100 – Sei loer de “to boast of”.[2]
- c. 1160 – Se louer de “to be pleased with” in the Roman d'Eneas.[2][3]
- 1248 – A legal sense “to approve”.[2]
- 14th century – The form louer appears.[3][4]
Meanings
Verb
- To praise, declare someone or something worthy of admiration: louer un peintre, louer le courage d'un ami.[8][2]
- Louer quelqu'un de or pour something: to commend or congratulate someone for it.[8]
- To glorify (God): Dieu soit loué ![2][8]
- (reflexive) Se louer de: to be well satisfied with someone or something.[2][3]
Word family
- louable
- louange
- loueur
louer2 to rent
From the same root · louer2
Pronunciation
Forms
louer[1] Old French luer (1080), loer (12th century); louer about 1283, in Beaumanoir.[9][3]
Etymology
The verb “to rent” is inherited from Old French luer, inherited from Latin locō (“to place; to let, hire out”).[2][3][4][9] In Latin the verb had specialized in legal language for hiring oneself out, placing one's services for a wage and offering goods for rent, and this use drove out the first sense, for which Latin used collocō (whence coucher); the verb is derived from locus (“place”), the source of lieu.[3][4]
Cognate with Old Occitan logar, Catalan llogar and Portuguese alugar.[6][7]
Earliest recorded meaning
Its first use, in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), is to pay someone taken on for a time, to hire soldiers: Ben en purrat luer ses soldeiers.[2][3][6]
Semantic evolution
By about 1165 it also meant obtaining the use of a thing for payment, and by about 1223 granting it: one verb for both sides of the bargain, an ambiguity it shares with location and locataire.[2][3] The reflexive se louer “to hire oneself out” is recorded in 1268.[2][3]
From Old French come louage (about 1170), now kept mainly in contrat de louage, and loueur (1283); relouer (1267) and sous-louer (1557) followed.[3]
Timeline
- c. 1100 – Luer in the Chanson de Roland, of hiring soldiers.[2]
- c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for taking something for payment.[2][3]
- c. 1170 – The derived noun louage.[3]
- c. 1223 – Gautier de Coinci uses it for letting something out.[2]
- 1268 – The reflexive se louer.[2][3]
- c. 1283 – The spelling louer in Beaumanoir.[9]
- 1557 – Sous-louer.[3]
Meanings
Verb
- To let, lease (a house, a room, land) to a tenant for a rent: appartement à louer.[8][9]
- To rent, hire (a house, a car, a boat) from its owner.[8][9][1]
- To hire (a worker) for a wage[9] (louer ses services: to offer one's work for pay).[9][6]
- (reflexive) Se louer: to be rented out; of a person, to hire oneself out: se louer pour la moisson.[8]
Word family
- louage
- loueur
- sous-louer
- relouer
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 206b
- ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
- ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Louer.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/louer. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.
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