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moi

Etymology and origin of the French word moi

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
842, Serments de Strasbourg
Inherited from
Latin ego via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (ego)

Pronunciation

Forms

moi[1] Old French mi (842), mei (1080), moi (about 1150).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French mei, inherited from Latin mē (“me”), in stressed position; the same pronoun unstressed gave me.[2][5][3][4] Latin “mē” is the accusative of ego (“I”) and belongs to a group of Indo-European personal pronouns that includes Irish mé, Ancient Greek ἐμέ (emé), Sanskrit मा (mā), Old Church Slavonic мѧ (mę) and Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌺 (mik).[2] Littré instead derived it from the dative mihi, arguing that the old forms “mei”, “mi” exclude the accusative.[6]

Cognate with Norman mei and Picard moè, from Old French.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Strasbourg Oaths (842) have mi, stressed, for contrast: in o quid il mi altresi fazet “provided that he does the same for me”.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

As a personal pronoun moi had all its uses from Old French on.[2] The strengthened moi-même is found from 1080 (mei meïsme), and un autre moi-même “someone exactly like me” from 1564.[2] The noun le moi “what makes up a person's individuality” appears in 1581; in the 17th century it took the sense of self-centred personality, as in Pascal's le moi est haïssable, and Descartes (1640) defined it as the thinking subject.[2] In psychoanalysis it has translated the ego since about 1900.[2]

Timeline

  • 842 – Mi in the Strasbourg Oaths.[7]
  • 1080 – Mei and mei meïsme in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1150 – The form moi.[3][4]
  • 1581 – Le moi as a noun.[2]
  • 1640 – Descartes uses it for the thinking subject.[2]
  • c. 1900 – Moi in psychoanalysis.[2]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. me: stressed form of the first person singular, after a preposition or an imperative: avec moi, regarde-moi.[8][4]
  2. I, me: for emphasis, beside or in place of je: moi, je reste, c'est moi.[8][7]
  3. À moi: mine: ce livre est à moi, à moi ! “help!”.[4]

Noun

  1. (philosophy) The self, the thinking subject.[8][2]
  2. (psychoanalysis) The ego.[2]

Word family

  • moi-même

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 565b
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c 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
  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

“Moi.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/moi. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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