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métal

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Etymology and origin of the French word métal

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1140 Pèlerinage de Charlemagne More words from the 12th century
Borrowed from
Latin metallum
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek μέταλλον
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek μέταλλον (métallon)
Latin metallum
French métal
Romanian metal
The word's journey
From the same root
Latin metallicus ← metallum

Pronunciation

Forms

métal m (plural métaux)[1] Old French metail was common from about 1225 to the 17th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin metallum (“mine, mineral, metal”), which is from Ancient Greek μέταλλον (métallon, “mine, quarry, what is mined”).[2][4][3][1] Old French also used the word in the Latin sense “mine”, from the first half of the 13th century to the 16th.[2][4] The form metail, frequent from about 1225 to the 17th century, is still listed by dictionaries from 1803 (Boiste) for an alloy of metals.[2][3]

Rey thinks the Greek noun is very probably related to a Greek verb meaning “to search, inquire”, the deposits being hidden and having to be sought out, though a borrowing has also been suggested;[4][1] Wiktionary calls its origin unknown.[4][1] Littré reports the ancient Greek etymologists' derivation from μετά (metá, “after”) and ἄλλος (állos, “other”), because the veins in a mine follow one another.[5]

Compare Occitan metalh, Catalan metall, Spanish metal and Italian metallo.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1140, in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne, for the substance metal.[2][6] Littré quotes a 12th-century line, Sonent busines d'arain et de metal “trumpets of bronze and metal sound”.[5] Bloch and Wartburg date the word only to 1249.[3]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “matter, stuff” (about 1225, Reclus de Molliens) survives only in literary phrases about a person's nature.[2][4] In modern chemistry the usual sense was given a precise value about 1830, after Berzelius, in contrast with métalloïde and later (mid-20th century) with non-métal.[4]

In heraldry the word has named the tinctures gold and silver since 1690 (Furetière).[2][4] From 1665 (La Fontaine) it was also used for money in coin, as against banknotes.[4][6] The old derivative métallin “having the colour or lustre of metal” (14th century) gave way to métallique, a borrowing of Latin metallicus.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1140 – The word appears in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne.[2]
  • c. 1225 – Reclus de Molliens uses it figuratively for “matter”.[2]
  • c. 1225 – The form metail appears in Gautier de Coinci.[2]
  • First half of the 13th century – Metal is used for a mine.[2]
  • 1665 – La Fontaine uses it for money in coin.[6][4]
  • 1690 – Furetière records the heraldic sense.[2][4]
  • c. 1830 – Chemistry gives the word a precise definition.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A metal: a chemical element with a typical lustre that conducts heat and electricity and forms basic oxides: métaux précieux, métaux lourds.[7][8][2]
  2. A metallic substance or alloy as a material: une lame de métal.[8][2]
  3. (heraldry) Either of the tinctures gold and silver.[2][4][1]
  4. (dated) Money in coin.[4][6]
  5. (literary, figurative) The stuff a person is made of.[4][6]

Word family

  • métalliser
  • métallisation
  • métalloïde
  • non-métal

Usage notes

Wiktionary also records métal as an alternative spelling of metal, a word borrowed from English.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Métal.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/m%C3%A9tal. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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