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mordant

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Etymology and origin of the French word mordant

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1174 Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence, Vie de saint Thomas More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin mordeō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French mordre
French mordant
English mordant

Pronunciation

  • /mɔʁ.dɑ̃/[1]

Forms

mordant (feminine mordante, masculine plural mordants, feminine plural mordantes)[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective and a noun, it is the present participle from French mordre (“to bite”).[2][3][4][5] The verb is inherited from Latin mordeō.[6][7] As an adjective it took the place of mordicant.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence's life of Thomas Becket (1174) uses it both for “that bites” and figuratively for “caustic”: par mult dulce parole e par aspre e mordant, of a father correcting his child “with very gentle words and with harsh and biting ones”.[2][8][5]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it named from about 1200 the metal piece of a belt, the tongue or tag of the buckle, a sense that lasted until the 16th century and survives in archaeology.[2][6][5][9] Later technical senses are a way of cutting the end of a timber (1676), a varnish for fixing gold or silver leaf (1743), a corrosive substance, and in dyeing a substance that fixes the colour; from this last sense came mordancer and mordançage (1841).[2][5] The adjective was applied to an acrid taste in 1636.[5] In 1798 the Académie records the noun for the penetrating quality of a voice and for a liveliness of mind,[2] the second leading to the modern mordant “energy, drive”.[4][2] English took the adjective from Old French in the late 15th century and the noun first for the clasp of a belt.[10]

Timeline

  • 1174 – First record, “that bites” and “caustic”.[2]
  • c. 1200 – As a noun, the metal piece of a belt.[2][5]
  • 1636 – Of an acrid taste.[5]
  • 1676 – A way of cutting the end of a timber.[2]
  • 1743 – A varnish for fixing gold or silver leaf.[2][5]
  • 1798 – The quality of a voice, and liveliness of mind.[2][5]
  • 1841 – Mordancer and mordançage appear in dyeing.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (hunting) That defends itself with its teeth: bêtes mordantes, such as the boar, fox and badger.[4][8]
  2. corrosive, that eats into a material.[2][11]
  3. Giving a biting sensation: un froid mordant.[4][2]
  4. Of a voice or sound: penetrating.[2][11]
  5. (figurative) Wounding by its sarcasm, caustic: une ironie mordante.[4][11][2]

Noun

  1. The biting quality of a tool: le mordant d'une lime.[4]
  2. (figurative) Energy, drive in attack: Cette équipe manque de mordant.[4][2]
  3. (dyeing) A mordant, a substance that fixes the dye in a fibre: teinture sur mordant.[2][1]
  4. A corrosive substance; in engraving, a varnish used in metal printing.[2]
  5. (music) A mordent, an ornament alternating the main note with the note below it.[2][1]
  6. The metal tag at the end of a belt or strap.[2]

Word family

  • mordançage
  • mordancer

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 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
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 126b
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
Cite this entry

“Mordant.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/mordant. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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