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loyer

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Etymology and origin of the French word loyer

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100 Chanson de Roland More words from the 11th century
Inherited from
Latin locarium
Ultimate origin
Latin locārium

Pronunciation

Forms

loyer m (plural loyers)[1] Old French luer (Chanson de Roland), luier (about 1119) and loier (about 1160); loyer from about 1300.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin locārium (“price of a lodging or a place”), by regular sound change.[5][3][6] The TLFi derives the Latin word from locus (“place”),[5][2] while Rey and Bloch and Wartburg derive it from locō (“to hire out”), the source of louer2.[3][6]

Cognate with Old Occitan loguier and Spanish loguero.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it means a wage or reward: Qui mult te sert, malvais luer l'en dones “whoever serves you well, you give him a bad reward”.[5][7]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, “wage, reward for a thing done”, is now old-fashioned outside literary use.[3] The proper sense, the price paid for the hire of a thing (1266), has aged in law under the competition of location, but is still common for the rent of a dwelling or premises.[5][3] Habitation à loyer modéré gave the common abbreviation HLM.[3][8] In Quebec, être à loyer means to be a tenant, and un loyer can mean a rented dwelling.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Luer “reward” in the Chanson de Roland.[5][2]
  • c. 1119 – Philippe de Thaon writes luier.[2]
  • c. 1160 – The form loier appears.[2][3]
  • 1266 – Loier means the price of hiring things, in charters of the Vosges.[5]
  • c. 1300 – The spelling loyer appears.[3][4]
  • 1804 – The Civil Code uses it in the terminology of contracts.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. rent, the price paid for renting a dwelling or premises: payer son loyer.[8][9][10][1]
  2. (law) The price of hiring any thing, a lease: donner à loyer, prendre à loyer.[8][10][5]
  3. Le loyer de l'argent: the interest rate.[8][10][9]
  4. (archaic, literary) A wage or reward.[8][3]
  5. (Quebec) A rented dwelling.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g 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
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Loyer.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/loyer. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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