Etymologically
Log in

monstre

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɔ̃stʁ/[1]

Forms

monstre m (plural monstres)[1] Old French mostre (1160) beside monstre.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mōnstrum (“portent, prodigy; monster”).[3][4][5][1] The Latin word comes from moneō (“to remind, warn”): in religious language it was a prodigy warning of the will of the gods, then any exceptional object or supernatural being, and in Christian Latin especially a demon.[3][4][2] Comedy used it of people, as in Terence's “monstrum hominis” and Plautus's “monstrum mulieris”.[3][4] montrer belongs to the same family, but its Latin source mōnstrō had already lost the religious sense and meant only “to show”.[6][7]

It matches Old Occitan mostre, Spanish monstruo, Portuguese monstro and Italian mostro.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has it for a divine prodigy or miracle, translating Latin signa and prodigia: les ovres del seigneur, les queles il posat monstres sur terre.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The Roman d'Eneas (1160) uses mostre of Cacus, a fabulous being of legend, and, from the 12th century it was said of people: a man of strange looks and ways (1165), a leper (1223), a deformed man (1225), and, from the 17th century a very ugly person (1690).[3][4] Monstre marin dates from 1561–1562, and in the 17th century it was said of the large fish served at table (1678).[4][8]

The general sense declined: “a monstrous, criminal act” (1541, Calvin), “an incredible thing” (1580, Montaigne) and “a badly ordered thing”, a building without symmetry or a learned book without order (1690, Furetière).[3][4] As a moral judgement it named a cruel or depraved person;[3][4] un monstre de cruauté is in Furetière (1690), and by antiphrasis Mme de Genlis could say c'est un monstre! of an adorable pouffe (1779).[3][4] The adjective monstre “huge, colossal”, as in un effet monstre, is from 1841;[3][1] monstre sacré, a great star, is a modern phrase.[3][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1120 – Monstre “prodigy, miracle”, in the Oxford Psalter.[3][2]
  • 1160 – Mostre, a fabulous being, in the Roman d'Eneas.[3]
  • 1328 – The adjective monstrueux.[5]
  • 1541 – “A monstrous act”, in Calvin.[3]
  • 1561 – Monstre marin.[8]
  • 1580 – “An incredible thing”, in Montaigne.[3]
  • 1690 – Un monstre de cruauté, in Furetière.[3]
  • 1841 – Adjective: un effet monstre.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A monster, a fantastic creature of legend or myth: le monstre du loch Ness.[6][1]
  2. A huge or frightening animal, monstres marins, large sea creatures.[6][4]
  3. A being of abnormal form, a freak.[3][4]
  4. A cruel or depraved person, a fiend, un monstre de, a paragon of (a vice or quality).[1][3]
  5. (familiar) A naughty child: petit monstre ![8]
  6. Monstre sacré: a great star of the stage or screen.[1]

Adjective

  1. (familiar) Huge, colossal: un travail monstre, un effet monstre.[1][3][9]

Word family

  • monstrueux
  • monstrueusement

Usage notes

Littré lists a second, feminine monstre, which is the same word as montre, formerly spelled monstre.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF