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mortel

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Etymology and origin of the French word mortel

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 980 Passion de Clermont More words from the 10th century
Borrowed from
Latin mortalis
Ultimate origin
Latin mors
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin mors
Catalan mort
French mort
Italian morte
Romanian moarte
Spanish muerte
Latin mortālis
Spanish mortal
French mortel
Italian mortale
Romanian mortal
From the same root
Latin morticīnus ← mors
Latin mortifer ← mors
Italian immortale ← mortālis
Latin immortālis ← mortālis
Latin mortālitās ← mortālis

Pronunciation

  • /mɔʁ.tɛl/[1]

Forms

mortel (feminine mortelle, masculine plural mortels, feminine plural mortelles)[1] Old French mortal (late 10th century), then mortel (about 1050).[2][3] Anglo-Norman mortiel, morteus.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mortālis (“subject to death, perishable; human; deadly”), from mors (“death”).[2][5][3] Bloch and Wartburg call it a word of the learned, religious language that was given a French form.[6] In Christian Latin it also had the active sense “deadly”, used especially of mortal sin.[2][5]

Cognate with Italian mortale, Occitan mortal, Spanish mortal and Portuguese mortal.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is om mortal “mortal man” in the Passion of Clermont, at the end of the 10th century, with the passive sense “subject to death”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The passive sense “subject to death” came first, for people at first and for things from about 1050 (la mortel vithe in the Vie de saint Alexis).[2][5] The noun mortel “human being” is found from about 1160 and has remained literary, apart from the familiar heureux mortel (1694).[5]

The active sense “deadly” is in the Chanson de Roland, of a battle and of an enemy who wants one's death (mortel enemi), and in 1155 Wace speaks of mortel haïne.[2][5] The religious pekié mortal “mortal sin” is recorded early in the 13th century, and mortel poison in Amyot (1572).[2][5] The sense “relating to death” (cri mortel, 1130–40) belonged to the Middle Ages.[2][5] From “causing cruel suffering” the adjective went on to mean, familiarly, “deadly boring”, and since the 1980s young people have used it as a term of praise, “terrific”.[5][1]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Om mortal appears in the Passion of Clermont.[2]
  • c. 1050 – La mortel vithe in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland has mortel enemi and mortel bataille.[2][7]
  • 1130–40 – Gaimar has cri mortel, a cry of death.[2]
  • c. 1160 – The noun “mortal” is found in the Roman d'Eneas.[2]
  • Early 13th century – Pekié mortal “mortal sin” in the Renclus de Molliens.[2]
  • 1572 – Amyot writes mortel poison.[2]
  • 1694 – Heureux mortel is recorded.[5]
  • 1980s – Youth slang uses it as an intensifier of praise.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Subject to death, mortal: tous les hommes sont mortels.[9][10]
  2. (of things, literary) perishable, bound to pass away.[9][10]
  3. Causing death, deadly, fatal: Le virus s'est révélé mortel.[10][7]
  4. Ennemi mortel: an enemy who seeks one's death.[10]
  5. (Catholicism) Péché mortel: a sin that brings the damnation of the soul, as opposed to a venial sin.[10]
  6. (familiar) Deadly boring.[5]
  7. (slang) Terrific, awesome.[5][1]

Noun

  1. (literary) A mortal, a human being;[10][1] le commun des mortels “ordinary people”.[10][1]
  2. Un heureux mortel: a lucky man.[10][7]

Word family

  • mortellement

Usage notes

According to Palsgrave, in the 16th century mortel was pronounced morté before a consonant.[7] Dépouille mortelle is a formal phrase for a dead person's body.[9][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Mortel.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/mortel. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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