Etymologically
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merveilleux

Etymology and origin of the French word merveilleux

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (merveillus)
Ultimate origin
Latin (mīror)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɛʁ.vɛ.jø/[1]
  • IPA: /mɛʁ.ve.jø/[1]

Forms

merveilleux (feminine merveilleuse, masculine plural merveilleux, feminine plural merveilleuses)[1] Old French merveillus (about 1100), mervellos, merveillose, merveilleux from the late 13th century (Joinville).[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French merveille + -eux.[4][5][6][1] That noun is from Latin mīrābilia (“wonderful things”), a neuter plural taken as a feminine noun, frequent in the language of the Church, altered in northern Gaul to *miribilia; it belongs to mīror (“to wonder at”).[6]

Compare Occitan meravilhós, Catalan meravellós, Spanish maravilloso and Italian meraviglioso.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it means “beyond ordinary limits, extraordinary”: merveillus hom est Charles “Charles is a wonderful man”, la bataille est merveilluse et pesant “the battle is tremendous and grievous”.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century it described what astonishes by being supernatural, such as a fairy sword (Doon de Mayence).[2][3] In classical French it still meant “astonishing”, while the modern sense “admirable, wonderful” became the usual one.[2][7]

As a noun, le merveilleux is the supernatural element in a literary work (1678, Huet; 1684, La Fontaine).[8][4] Un merveilleux was an eccentric dandy (1741), and under the Directory les Merveilleuses and les Incroyables were people of extravagant fashion.[4][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Merveillus, Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • Late 13th century – The form merveilleux, Joinville.[2]
  • 1678 – Le merveilleux in literature, Huet.[8]
  • 1741 – Un merveilleux “eccentric dandy”.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Wonderful, marvellous, admirable: un temps merveilleux, une femme merveilleuse.[7][1]
  2. (dated) Astonishing, extraordinary.[7][2]
  3. Supernatural, magic: la lampe merveilleuse.[7][2]

Noun

  1. Le merveilleux: the supernatural, the marvellous, especially in literature.[4][8]
  2. (history) Un merveilleux, une merveilleuse: a dandy of the Directory period.[4][6]

Word family

  • merveilleusement
  • merveille
  • émerveiller
  • miracle
  • Latin mīrābilia

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  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 f g h 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
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
Cite this entry

“Merveilleux.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/merveilleux. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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