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lueur

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Etymology and origin of the French word lueur

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1119, Philippe de Thaon
Inherited from
Latin lucor via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin lūx

Pronunciation

Forms

lueur f (plural lueurs)[1] Old French leiur (about 1112), luur (1119), luor (12th century); lueur from 1223.[2][3][4] Middle French also had luour.[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French luur, inherited from Late Latin lūcor (“brightness, brilliance”), the noun belonging to lūceō (“to shine”), from lūx (“light”).[3][4][5][6][1] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF treat the Latin noun as a popular form, *lūcōrem, not recorded in writing.[7][5][2] The verb luire continues the same Latin verb.[4]

Cognate with Italian lucore, Romanian lucoare, Catalan llugor and Occitan lugor.[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) has luur for light or brilliance;[3][4] the GLLF gives an earlier leiur in the Voyage de saint Brendan (about 1112).[2] Like the Latin word, it could name a strong light.[4]

Semantic evolution

Deschamps uses it figuratively for “splendour” at the end of the 14th century.[3][4] From 1585 (Garnier) it took its modern sense of a faint, diffuse light, and since then it names a bright light only for reflected light, for stylistic effect, or for a brief gleam in someone's eyes.[3][4] The figurative sense “slight sign or trace” appears in Molière's Tartuffe (1669), as in une lueur d'espoir, and in the plural lueurs shared with lumière the sense “knowledge, understanding” (before 1742, Massillon).[3][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1112 – Leiur in the Voyage de saint Brendan.[2]
  • 1119 – Luur in Philippe de Thaon.[3]
  • 1223 – Lueur in Gautier de Coinci.[3]
  • Late 14th century – “Splendour”, in Deschamps.[3]
  • 1585 – A faint light, in Garnier.[3]
  • 1669 – “A slight trace”, in Molière.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A faint or diffuse light, a glimmer or glow: à la lueur d'une lampe, les premières lueurs de l'aube.[9][1]
  2. A brief, vivid expression in the eyes, a gleam: une lueur de colère.[9][2]
  3. (figurative) A faint sign or trace: une lueur d'espoir.[9][3]
  4. (literary, in the plural) Knowledge, glimmerings of understanding.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 437a
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Lueur.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/lueur. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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