Etymologically
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os

Etymology and origin of the French word os

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland
Inherited from
Latin ossum via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (os)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (singular): /ɔs/[1]
  • IPA (plural): /o/[1]

Forms

os m (invariable)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French os, inherited from Latin ossum (“bone”), a popular variant of classical os (“bone”).[2][3][4][5] Littré notes that an Old French feminine plural continued the Latin neuter plural.[6] The Latin word is the Indo-European name of the bone, also seen in Ancient Greek ὀστέον (ostéon) and Sanskrit अस्थि (ásthi);[3][1] Wiktionary gives Proto-Indo-European *h₃ésth₁.[3][1]

Cognate with Italian osso, Spanish hueso and Occitan os.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it is a bone of the skeleton: a blow tranche le pis, si li brise les os.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

About 1200 les os were the remains of the dead.[2][3] Chrétien de Troyes (1176) has it for worked bone as a material, used for objects since prehistory.[2][3] Many phrases date from the 17th century: se rompre les os (1606), mouillé jusqu'à l'os (1609), il ne fera jamais vieux os (1640), n'avoir que la peau sur les os (Racine, 1668), from the much older n'avoir que la pel et l'os (1188), and donner un os à ronger (1680).[2][3]

Slang gave avoir de l'os “to have money” (1851), tomber sur un os “to hit a snag” (1914) and l'avoir dans l'os “to be had” (1946–1948).[2][3] The cuttlebone, os de seiche, is from 1616.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – In the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 1176 – Bone as a material, in Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • 1188 – Il n'avoit que la pel et l'os.[2]
  • 1606 – Rompre les os.[2]
  • 1640 – Il ne fera jamais vieux os.[2]
  • 1680 – Donner un os à ronger, in Madame de Sévigné.[2]
  • 1914 – Tomber sur un os.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bone: les os du pied, os long, os plat.[7][8]
  2. Bone as a material: un manche en os.[9]
  3. Les os: the mortal remains: y laisser ses os, to die there.[9][3]
  4. N'avoir que la peau sur les os: to be skin and bone, trempé jusqu'aux os, soaked to the skin.[8][3]
  5. Ne pas faire de vieux os: not to live long; not to stay long.[2][3]
  6. (familiar) A snag, difficulty: tomber sur un os.[9][1]
  7. Os de seiche: cuttlebone.[2]

Word family

  • ossature
  • osseux
  • ossifier
  • ossuaire
  • osselet
  • désosser
  • suros
  • ossement
  • ostéo-
  • Latin os

Usage notes

The singular is pronounced /ɔs/ and the plural /o/; in the 18th century /o/ was used for both, and the /s/ of the singular was restored in the 19th century.[2][1]

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 j k l m n o p q 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 c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 426b
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Os.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/os. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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