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palatin

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Etymology and origin of the French word palatin

palatin1 of the palace

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1256 charter in the Layettes du Trésor des chartes
Borrowed from
Latin palatinus
Ultimate origin
Latin palātium

Pronunciation

  • /pa.la.tɛ̃/[1]

Forms

palatin (feminine palatine, masculine plural palatins, feminine plural palatines)[1]

Etymology

The word for a palace dignitary is borrowed from Medieval Latin palātīnus (“palatine (count)”), used in comes palātīnus from the 9th century and as a noun from the 11th and 12th, with a feminine palātīna (“countess palatine”) in the 12th.[2][3][4] In Classical Latin palātīnus meant “officer of the imperial palace” as a noun and “of the imperial palace” as an adjective, properly “of the Palatine hill”, and is derived from palātium (“Palatine hill, palace”).[2][3][5]

The Old French forms palaïn and palasin, palazin came from the Latin word by oral transmission, the latter with the ⟨s⟩ of palais1; the learned form ousted them.[2][3][6] The Grand Robert dates the form with ⟨s⟩ to 1160, and the GLLF to about 1160, in the Moniage Guillaume.[7][5] The same Latin word is the source of paladin.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a charter of July 1256 Hugues is called conte palatin de Borgoigne, said of a lord whose residence had the title of a palace and who dispensed justice there.[2][3] Joinville addresses the king of Navarre as de Champaigne et de Brie comte palazin.[8]

Semantic evolution

From about 1265 (Brunetto Latini) the word was used of the Holy Roman Empire, of the lord who ruled a district called a palatinat; from 1356 it named in particular the elector who ruled the Palatinate, and as a noun (before 1615, Pasquier) a lord of the Empire who acted as the emperor's counsellor.[2][3] It was also said of a lord holding an office in a sovereign's palace: first in the feminine, of Mahaut, countess of Artois, in 1306, then in the masculine in 1384 and as an adjective in 1596.[2][3] Alain Chartier in the 15th century uses palatins of courtiers in general.[8]

The title princesse Palatine (1685) was borne by Anne de Gonzague and by Charlotte-Élisabeth of Bavaria, sister-in-law of Louis XIV; the fur tippet she made fashionable is still called a palatine (1680).[3][2] Outside Germany the noun named the governor of a Polish province and the viceroy of Hungary.[8][9] The neutral sense “belonging to a palace” came last, in Hugo's Le Rhin (1842).[2][3]

English palatine, recorded from the mid-15th century, came from Old French palatin and directly from Medieval Latin.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1160 – The oral form palasin is recorded in the Moniage Guillaume.[5][7]
  • 1256 – Conte palatin de Borgoigne in a charter.[2]
  • c. 1265 – Brunetto Latini uses it of the Holy Roman Empire.[2][3]
  • 1306 – The feminine Pallatine is used of Mahaut, countess of Artois.[2]
  • 1356 – It names the elector palatine.[3]
  • 1596 – Hulsius records the adjective for an officer of a palace.[2][5]
  • Before 1615 – Pasquier uses the noun of the emperor's counsellors.[2][8]
  • 1680 – The fur palatine is named after the princess Palatine.[3]
  • 1685 – Bossuet writes of the Princesse Palatine.[2]
  • 1842 – Hugo uses it in the sense “of a palace”.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (history) Holding an office or dignity in the palace of a sovereign: seigneur palatin.[9][8]
  2. (history) Said of the counts palatine of the Holy Roman Empire, and of the elector who ruled the Palatinat: l'électeur palatin, la maison palatine.[9][2]
  3. (formal) Belonging to a palace: chapelle palatine.[9][5]

Noun

  1. (history) A count palatine, a dignitary of the Empire.[9][8]
  2. (history) The governor of a province of old Poland, and the viceroy of Hungary.[9][8]

Word family

  • palatinat
  • palatine

palatin2 of the palate

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1611 Cotgrave
From
Latin palatum
Ultimate origin
Latin palātum
Etymology tree of palatin2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin palātum
Romanian păraț
English palate
Italian palato
Romanian palat
French palatin
From the same root · palatin2
English palatable ← palate

Pronunciation

  • /pa.la.tɛ̃/[1]

Forms

palatin (feminine palatine, masculine plural palatins, feminine plural palatines)[1]

Etymology

The word for the palate is from Latin palātum (“palate”), formed learnedly with the suffix -in.[3][7][9][8] It belongs with palais2 in the sense “roof of the mouth”, the inherited outcome of the same Latin word.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave records it in 1611.[5] It qualifies what concerns the palate.[3]

Semantic evolution

It soon specialised in anatomy: the Académie records os palatins in 1762, and Larousse gives apophyse palatine, artères palatines and voûte palatine in 1875.[5][3] By ellipsis of os or artère it has been used as a noun since 1868.[3] English has had palatine in this sense since 1656.[3]

The part played by the palate in pronouncing some sounds gave the phonetic term palatal (before 1723), formed directly on the Latin word.[3]

Timeline

  • 1611 – First recorded, by Cotgrave.[5][7]
  • 1762 – The Académie records os palatins.[5][3]
  • 1868 – Used as a noun.[3]
  • 1875 – Larousse gives voûte palatine and artères palatines.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (anatomy) Of or relating to the palate: voûte palatine, artère palatine.[9][5]
  2. Os palatin: either of the two thin bones at the back of the upper jaw whose horizontal part forms the hard palate.[9][8]

Noun

  1. (anatomy) The palatine bone.[9][3]

Usage notes

The Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and Littré list the two adjectives as separate words, one from Latin palatinus, the other from palatum.[7][9][8] With a capital, le Palatin (le mont Palatin) is the Palatine hill of Rome.[8][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 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 k l m n o p q r s t u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 488b
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Palatin.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/palatin. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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