Etymologically
Log in

oiseau

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /wa.zo/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): /wa.zo/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): /zwa.zo/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): /zo.zo/[1]

Forms

oiseau m (plural oiseaux, feminine oiselle)[1] Old French oisel (1080), plural oiseaus (about 1165), whence the singular oiseau, oisiau in Brunetto Latini (about 1265), oiseau in Froissart (about 1360).[2][3][4] Oisel survived long in falconry.[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French oisel, inherited from Late Latin aucellus (“bird”), a syncopated form of “*avicellus”, diminutive of avis (“bird”).[4][2][6][7][8][1] The simple “avis” survives in Romance only in Spanish ave and Portuguese ave; elsewhere fuller forms replaced it, though it remained as a generic word in compounds behind autruche and outarde.[2][6] “Avis” belongs to the Indo-European root “*aw-”, also seen in Sanskrit वि (ví), Old Armenian հաւ (haw, “bird”) and Ancient Greek αἰετός (aietós, “eagle”), Latin ōvum (“egg”) seems to be of the same group.[2]

Cognate with Italian uccello, Old Occitan auzel and Catalan aucell.[6][9] In northern dialects “oiseau” was often replaced, by moineau in the Centre and in Picard, and by “moisson” (properly “sparrow”) in Walloon.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) oisel is a bird: Plus est isnels que n'est oisel qui vole “he is swifter than a flying bird”.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

From the end of the 14th century, in Froissart, it was used of a person, often ironically, rare oiseau is in La Fontaine (1665), oiseau rare in Béranger (1829) and drôle d'oiseau in Delvau (1883).[4] Oiseau de passage meant a migratory bird in 1549 and a person who does not stay in 1675, and oiseau de mauvais augure became figurative in 1761, à vol d'oiseau “as the crow flies” is in Trévoux (1771).[2][3][4] Se donner des noms d'oiseaux, to call each other names, is recorded in 1872.[4] In Quebec être aux oiseaux means to be delighted.[2]

From 1358–59 oiseau was also a builder's hod for carrying mortar, and, from 1832 a roofer's trough, a sense probably influenced by auge.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Oisel, Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • c. 1165 – The plural oiseaus, Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[4]
  • 1358–59 – A builder's hod.[4]
  • c. 1360 – Oiseau, of a person, Froissart.[3]
  • 1665 – Rare oiseau, La Fontaine.[4]
  • 1771 – À vol d'oiseau.[4]
  • 1883 – Drôle d'oiseau.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bird: les oiseaux migrateurs, oiseau de proie.[10][1]
  2. (familiar, pejorative) A person, a fellow: un drôle d'oiseau, un oiseau rare, a rare person, un oiseau de passage.[3][4]
  3. À vol d'oiseau: as the crow flies.[4][2]
  4. (technical) A builder's hod for carrying mortar.[4][5]
  5. In names of birds: oiseau-mouche, a hummingbird, oiseau-lyre, a lyrebird, oiseau de paradis.[2]

Word family

  • oiselet
  • oisillon
  • oiseleur
  • oiselier
  • oisellerie
  • oiselle
  • oiseau-mouche
  • oiseau-lyre
  • oie
  • autruche
  • outarde
  • aviaire
  • Latin avis

Usage notes

The proverb petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid is recorded by Furetière in 1690.[3] In Belgian French un oiseau pour le chat is a frail person.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
  5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 776a
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert