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Etymology and origin of the French word menu

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis
Inherited from
Latin minutus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (minuō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin minutus
English minute
French menu
English menu

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mə.ny/[1]

Forms

menu (feminine menue, masculine plural menus, feminine plural menues)[1] Old French menut, feminine menude.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French menu, inherited from Latin minūtus (“small, fine”),[2][4][5][1][6] the past participle of minuō (“to lessen”),[2][7] which shares its stem with minus (“less”).[3][8] In popular Latin minūtus tended to replace parvus (“small”).[4] It is a doublet of minute.[1]

Cognate with Italian minuto, Occitan menut, Catalan menut, Spanish menudo and Portuguese miúdo.[3][9]

The noun “bill of fare” (1718) is the adjective used as a noun, properly a “detailed list”, as in the phrase “par le menu”, in detail.[7][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has la gent menude, the common people;[2][4] the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) uses it of small things, of things of little importance, and in menut e suvent “often and thick”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it means small and slender, of things and (about 1135) people, and appears in set phrases: menue monnaie “small change”, menus plaisirs, menu fretin “small fry”, menu bétail.[2][4][8] The adverb gave hacher menu “to chop fine” (1314) and par le menu “in detail” (1538).[2]

From par le menu came the noun menu, a detailed list of the dishes of a meal (1718),[7][10] then the set meal at a fixed price in a restaurant and, in computing, a list of options.[10][1] The English word menu was borrowed from it.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – La gent menude “the common people”.[2][4]
  • c. 1100 – “Small, of little value” (Roland).[2]
  • 1314 – Hagier menu “to chop fine”.[2]
  • 1538 – Par le menu “in detail”.[2]
  • 1718 – The noun “bill of fare”.[7][10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A menu, the list of dishes making up a meal.[10][1]
  2. A set meal at a fixed price.[10][1]
  3. (computing) A list of options on a screen.[10]
  4. Par le menu: in detail.[10][2]

Adjective

  1. Slender, slight; small and fine: une femme menue.[10][2]
  2. Of little importance: menus frais, menue monnaie.[10][8]

Adverb

  1. Finely, in small pieces: hacher menu.[10][2]

Word family

  • menuet

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 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/2, 134b
  7. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Menu.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/menu. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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