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ménage

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Etymology and origin of the French word ménage

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1160–1174 Wace, Roman de Rou More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin maneō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin maneō
Aromanian mãn
Romanian mânea
French ménage
Derivations
From the same root
Latin ēmaneō ← maneō
Latin intermaneō ← maneō
Latin mānsiō ← maneō
Latin mānsus ← maneō
Latin permaneō ← maneō
Latin remaneō ← maneō

Pronunciation

Forms

ménage m (plural ménages)[1] Old French manage, maisnage and mainage, then mesnage.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French manoir (“to dwell”) + -age.[2][4][5] The Old French verb is from Latin maneō (“to stay, remain”).[5][1] The early spellings with ⟨is⟩ and ⟨s⟩ are due to the influence of maisnée (“household”) (about 1050), which comes from Vulgar Latin *mansionata, a derivative of Latin mānsiō (“stay, dwelling”), the source of maison.[2][4][3][1] Bloch and Wartburg give the original form as manage, about 1150, with the other forms from the 13th century.[3] Littré instead derived it from Medieval Latin mansionaticum, also from the Latin word for a dwelling.[6]

Littré cites dialect forms such as Walloon manège and Occitan maynatge (Languedoc and Gascony).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Wace's Roman de Rou (1160–1174) as maisnage, meaning a dwelling or stay, a sense very much alive in Old and Middle French.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From the 13th century the word developed in two directions, the material side of life at home and its human side.[4] In the first, it meant the management of one's property (about 1210), especially thrift and economy (1546);[2][4] de ménage was said of anything made at home (13th century), and the word also named the furniture and goods of a home (mid-14th century), a sense kept in monter son ménage (1665) and in the doll's furniture of children's toys (1523).[2][4] The modern sense of the material running of a home, and especially of keeping it clean, appears around 1400, in the Quinze Joyes de mariage;[2] faire le ménage is recorded in 1659.[4][7]

On the human side, it meant the life together of husband and wife from the 13th century, then everyone living under one roof, servants included (late 13th century), and the couple alone from 1588.[2][4] The wider sense “family” survives in economists' usage (consommation des ménages).[4] Faire bon, mauvais ménage “to get on well, badly” dates from 1611.[2][4] In Quebec French grand ménage is a thorough cleaning, as ménage de printemps is in European French.[4]

Timeline

  • 1160–1174 – Maisnage “dwelling” appears in Wace's Roman de Rou.[2]
  • c. 1210 – Mainage means the management of property.[2][4]
  • 13th century – De ménage is used of home-made things, and the word is used of married life.[2][4]
  • Mid-14th century – It names the furniture and goods of a home.[2]
  • c. 1400 – It refers to the material care of the home.[2]
  • 1523 – It names a set of small toy furniture.[2][4]
  • 1546 – Rabelais uses it for thrift and good management.[2]
  • 1585 – The compound remue-ménage is recorded.[4]
  • 1588 – Montaigne uses it for the couple itself.[2][4]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave records faire mauvais mesnage ensemble “to get on badly”.[2]
  • 1659 – Faire le ménage is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Housework, especially cleaning: faire le ménage;[4][1][8] femme de ménage, a cleaning woman.[4][1][8]
  2. Everything to do with the running of a home and the upkeep of a family.[9][8]
  3. A couple living together as a household: un jeune ménage s'est installé à côté.[8][4]
  4. (economics, statistics) A household, the basic unit of statistics on consumption.[8][4]
  5. Faire bon ménage: to get on well together.[1][4]
  6. Scène de ménage: a domestic quarrel between partners.[1]
  7. De ménage: home-made: pain de ménage.[9]
  8. (dated) Thrift, good management of a household's means.[9][2]

Word family

Usage notes

Remue-ménage (1585) is the last trace of the old phrases remuer ménage and remuement de ménage, where the word meant upheaval or disorder (1571).[4][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 r s t 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 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. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  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

“Ménage.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/m%C3%A9nage. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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