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oreiller

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Etymology and origin of the French word oreiller

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1140 Voyage de Charlemagne More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin auricula
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin auris
Latin auricula
French oreille
French oreiller
Spanish oreja
French auricule
From the same root
English aural ← auris
Latin aurītus ← auris
English auricle ← auricula

Pronunciation

Forms

oreiller m (plural oreillers)[1] Old French oreillier, often orillier in the Middle Ages.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French oreille + -ier, first as Old French oreillier.[5][2][6][1] Medieval Latin had a word of the same kind for the pillow, Medieval Latin auriculāre (816), the neuter of the adjective auriculāris used as a noun.[5][7] The noun for the ear comes from Latin auricula (“ear”), an extension of auris.[3]

Littré compares Occitan aurelhier.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Voyage de Charlemagne (1140), in a list of bedding: Oreilliers de velos et linçoels de cendal “pillows of velvet and sheets of sendal”.[5][9]

Semantic evolution

Since the 12th century the word has named the cushion that supports the head in bed.[5][7] A figurative use, “that which gives rest or peace of mind”, is found from 1266.[5][7]

In modern French the pillow took on the sense of marital or sexual intimacy that alcôve once carried, in confidences sur l'oreiller (1946, with an earlier phrasing in 1881) and se raccommoder sur l'oreiller (1912), of a couple who make up in bed.[7][5] The word also has a few technical uses by analogy, in shipbuilding, architecture and cooking.[7][8]

Timeline

  • 1140 – Oreilliers appears in the Voyage de Charlemagne.[5][9]
  • 1266 – Orillier is used figuratively of what gives peace of mind.[5][7]
  • 1881 – Richepin writes of confidences made between the sheet and the pillow.[5]
  • 1912 – Léautaud uses se raccommoder sur l'oreiller.[5][7]
  • 1946 – Bernanos uses confidence sur l'oreiller.[5][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pillow, a cushion, usually square, that supports the head in bed.[6][5]
  2. Sur l'oreiller: in bed, and so in the closest intimacy: confidences sur l'oreiller.[6][7]
  3. Panne d'oreiller (familiar): lateness from oversleeping.[6][7]
  4. (figurative) Something that gives rest or peace of mind.[4][8]
  5. (nautical) A timber crossing two opposite floor timbers of a ship's frame to strengthen them.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
  6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
Cite this entry

“Oreiller.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/oreiller. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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