Etymologically
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nombre

Etymology and origin of the French word nombre

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
first half of the 12th century, Cambridge Psalter
Inherited from
Latin numerus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (numerus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin numerus
French nombre
French nombreux
Latin numerosus
English numerous
Latin numerose

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /nɔ̃bʁ/[1]

Forms

nombre m (plural nombres)[1] Old French numbre, nonbre.[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French nombre, inherited from Latin numerus (“number; quantity; rank; grammatical number; rhythm”),[3][2][4][5][6][1] a word that rendered all the technical senses of Ancient Greek ἀριθμός (arithmós); its plural meant the units of an army and, after Greek, the science of numbers.[2] The origin of the Latin word is unknown; it is sometimes compared with Ancient Greek νέμω (némō, “to distribute, share”).[2][7][8] The rhetorical sense seems to have been borrowed from Latin by the Pléiade poets.[3]

It is a doublet of numéro, borrowed from Italian.[1][7] Cognate with Romanian număr, Old Occitan nombre, Spanish número and Italian novero.[7][5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has mals, desquels nen est numbres, “evils without number”, for the count of a plurality of persons or things.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The idea of count gave par nombre “in all” (about 1150), sans nombre (late 14th century) and les Nombres, the Book of Numbers, which relates the census of the twelve tribes (13th century).[3][2] Without any counting it expressed quantity, grand nombre (14th century) and en nombre (about 1360), and with au nombre de (1478) and du nombre de (1538) it came to mean “among”.[2][3] In some regions (Cher, Beauce) it means a set of twelve.[2]

In mathematics the word first named an ideal proportion (1119), specified as nombre d'or (13th century), then any number (1130–40).[2][3] Technical senses followed in grammar (13th century), rhetoric (Du Bellay, 1549, the harmony of prose rhythm) and music (Furetière, 1685).[3][9]

Timeline

  • First half of the 12th century – Numbres, Cambridge Psalter.[3]
  • 1119 – In mathematics, Philippe de Thaon.[3]
  • 13th century – Nombre d'or, les Nombres; grammatical number.[2][3]
  • c. 1350 – nombreux.[5]
  • 1478 – Au nombre de “among”.[3]
  • 1549 – Rhetorical “number”, Du Bellay.[3]
  • 1685 – Musical sense, Furetière.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A number, a basic concept of mathematics: nombre pair, impair, nombres premiers, prime numbers, nombre d'or, the golden ratio.[7][1]
  2. A number of people or things; quantity: un grand nombre de.[7][2]
  3. En nombre: in large numbers, sans nombre, countless, au nombre de, among, or to the number of.[2][3][10]
  4. (grammar) Number: singular, plural.[3][7]
  5. (rhetoric, music) Harmony arising from rhythm.[3]
  6. Les Nombres: the Book of Numbers.[3]

Word family

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 237a
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Derived terms

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Nombre.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/nombre. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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