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marbre

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Etymology and origin of the French word marbre

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1050 Vie de saint Alexis More words from the 11th century
Inherited from
Latin marmor
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek μάρμαρος
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek μάρμαρος (mármaros)
Latin marmor
French marbre
Romanian marmură
The word's journey
From the same root
Latin marmoreus ← marmor

Pronunciation

Forms

marbre m (plural marbres)[1] Old French also wrote mabre and maubre, and Middle French malbre.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin marmor (“marble, a marble object”).[3][4][5][6] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek μάρμαρος (mármaros, “white stone, marble”), which Hellenists connect with μαρμαίρω (marmaírō, “to sparkle, glitter”);[5] Rey compares Sanskrit मरीचि (márīci, “ray of light”).[5] Littré likewise explains the Greek name as “the shining stone”.[2]

Cognate with Italian marmo, Spanish mármol, Portuguese mármore and Occitan marme, and with Walloon marm.[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis for the hard limestone itself; about 1179 the Roman de Renart uses un maubre for a cut and polished slab of marble, here a gravestone.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

From the stone the word passed to a piece of it cut and polished, and in 1831 to the marble top of a piece of furniture or a mantelpiece.[3][5] In printing, marbre named from 1522 the flat surface, originally of marble, on which the forme is laid, and sur le marbre (1863) is said of articles waiting to be printed.[3][5] Table de marbre came to mean a group of jurisdictions (before 1615), after the marble table round which several courts sat at the Palais.[5][3]

Comparisons with the hardness of marble are old (plus dur que marbre, 1280), but the figurative uses être de marbre (1771) and visage de marbre (before 1799) “impassive” appear late.[5][3] Imitations were called marbre artificiel and marbre feint from 1694.[3][5] In baseball the word now names home plate.[1][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – First recorded in the Vie de saint Alexis.[3][5]
  • c. 1179 – The Roman de Renart has un maubre for a funeral slab.[3]
  • 1280 – The comparison plus dur que marbre is recorded.[5]
  • 1522 – First used in printing.[3][5]
  • before 1615 – Pasquier uses table de marbre for a court.[3]
  • 1694 – Thomas Corneille records marbre artificiel and marbre feint.[3]
  • 1771 – Être de marbre “to be unmoved” appears.[3][5]
  • 1831 – Balzac uses it for the marble top of a piece of furniture.[3]
  • 1863 – Sur le marbre is said of articles awaiting printing.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Marble, a limestone rock, often veined, that takes a fine polish.[9][8]
  2. A block or object of marble, especially the marble top of a table or chest of drawers, or a marble statue.[9][8]
  3. Être de marbre, rester de marbre: to remain impassive.[8]
  4. (printing) The flat table, originally of marble, on which formes are made up;[3][8] sur le marbre: ready to be printed.[3][8]
  5. (baseball) Home plate.[1][8]

Word family

  • marbrer
  • marbrier
  • marbrerie
  • marbrière
  • marbrure

Usage notes

The Grand Robert has a separate nautical marbre, a horizontal drum on which a tiller rope is wound, recorded in the 18th century by Trévoux and explained as a corruption of arbre;[6] Littré gives the same origin for millers' le marbre du moulin “the mill's axle”.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 364a
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Marbre.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/marbre. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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