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miracle

Etymology and origin of the French word miracle

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis
Borrowed from
Latin miraculum
Ultimate origin
Latin (mirus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin miraculum
French miracle

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mi.ʁakl/[1]

Forms

miracle m (plural miracles)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mīrāculum (“wonder, marvel”), taken in the religious sense the word had acquired in Church Latin.[2][3][4][5] The Latin noun is derived, through mīror (“to wonder at”) (see admirer, mirer), from mīrus (“astonishing, wonderful”).[3][5] The inherited Old French mirail (“mirror”) goes back to the same family.[1] In the Middle Ages it was sometimes feminine.[4]

Cognate with Old Occitan miracle, Spanish milagro, Portuguese milagre and Italian miracolo.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (mid-11th century) uses it for an event not explained by natural causes and attributed to divine intervention.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

At first it was very close to merveille, which also expressed astonishment.[3] By metonymy it named, from Rutebeuf's Miracle de Théophile (about 1258), a popular religious play staging the miracles of the Virgin or the saints, a major genre of medieval theatre.[2][3]

By extension it took the lay sense “astonishing thing” (Jean de Meun, about 1269–1278), with c'est un miracle (1579), crier au miracle (1659, Corneille) and tenir du miracle (1688, Bossuet).[2][3] It also meant “a thing worthy of admiration”, as in les sept miracles du monde (1567); from the 17th century this and the hyperbolic “unexpected success” were felt as metaphors of the religious sense.[2][3] Furetière (1690) notes the hyperbole c'est un miracle de vous voir.[2][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – A divine miracle, in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1258 – A miracle play, Rutebeuf's Miracle de Théophile.[2][3]
  • 1269–1278 – “Astonishing thing”, in Jean de Meun.[2]
  • 1314 – The adjective miraculeux.[4][3]
  • 1567 – Les sept miracles du monde.[2]
  • 1659 – Crier au miracle, in Corneille.[2]
  • 1690 – C'est un miracle de vous voir, in Furetière.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (religion) A miracle, an extraordinary event attributed to divine intervention: les miracles de Lourdes.[8][1]
  2. An astonishing, unexpected event or success, par miracle, miraculously.[3][2]
  3. A thing worthy of admiration, a marvel.[2][3]
  4. (literature) A medieval miracle play.[8][3]
  5. Crier au miracle: to hail something as wonderful, tenir du miracle, to be little short of miraculous.[2][8]

Word family

  • miraculeux

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ 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

“Miracle.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/miracle. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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