Etymologically
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nombreux

Etymology and origin of the French word nombreux

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1350, Glossaire de Paris
Ultimate origin
Latin (numerus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin numerus
French nombre
French nombreux
Latin numerosus
English numerous
Latin numerose

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /nɔ̃.bʁø/[1]

Forms

nombreux (feminine nombreuse, masculine plural nombreux, feminine plural nombreuses)[1] Nonbreus (about 1350); nombreux from 1564 (Jean Thierry); the 16th century also had the latinism numereux.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French nombre + -eux,[3][5][2] after Latin numerōsus (“numerous; rhythmical”),[3][4][1] from numerus (“number”), the source of nombre.[6][4]

Compare Old Occitan numeros.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Latin–French glossary of about 1350 renders numerosus by nonbreus, “in great number, made up of many”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century it also took the rhetorical sense of Latin numerōsus, “rhythmical, harmonious”: Baïf has nombreuse cadance (1552), and Jean Thierry's dictionary (1564) nombreuses loix, laws being called so because they were once written in verse.[3] The everyday sense, of a crowd, an audience or a family made up of many members, and in the plural “many”, has remained the main one.[7][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1350 – Nonbreus in a Paris glossary.[3]
  • 1552 – Nombreuse cadance, in Baïf.[3]
  • 1564 – The form nombreux (Jean Thierry).[2]
  • 1694 – Recorded by the Académie.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Made up of many members: une foule nombreuse, un public nombreux, famille nombreuse, a large family.[7][2]
  2. (plural) Numerous, many: de nombreuses familles, Ils sont très nombreux.[7][1]
  3. (literary) Of style, harmonious, rhythmical.[3][2]

Usage notes

In the plural, when it means “made up of many”, nombreux is placed after the noun, to avoid confusion with de nombreux “many”.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Nombreux.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/nombreux. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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