Etymologically
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parachute

Etymology and origin of the French word parachute

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1784, Joseph de Montgolfier
Ultimate origins
French (para-)Latin (*cadecta)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French chute
French parachute
English parachute

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pa.ʁa.ʃyt/[1]

Forms

parachute m (plural parachutes)[1]

Etymology

It is from French para- (“guarding against”) + chute (“fall”),[2][3][1][4][5] formed on the model of parasol and parapluie.[3][6] Littré analyses it as “parer à chute”.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Joseph de Montgolfier uses it in a letter of 24 March 1784 for a device to slow the fall of a person or object dropped from a balloon;[2][3] the Grand Robert and the GLLF date the word from 1777 in Bachaumont's Mémoires secrets, a volume the TLFi dates 1785.[6][8][2]

Semantic evolution

The aeronaut Blanchard tried the device in 1785, and the word was used by balloonists in the 19th century before aviation spread it in the 20th.[3] Understood as anything that stops a fall, it also named a watchmaker's shock protector for the balance staff (1832) and a safety catch that stops a mine cage from falling down the shaft (1858).[2][3][7]

Parachutiste (1903; a soldier from 1941, shortened to para in 1944), parachuter (1945; figuratively “to appoint someone suddenly to a distant post”, 1962) and parachutisme (1959) followed.[3] Parachute doré, a large payment to a departing executive, is calqued on English golden parachute.[3]

Timeline

  • 1784 – A device to slow a fall from a balloon (Montgolfier).[2][3]
  • 1785 – Blanchard's experiments.[3]
  • 1832 – A shock protector in watchmaking.[2][3]
  • 1835 – First recorded by the Académie.[2]
  • 1858 – A safety catch for a mine cage.[2][3]
  • 1903 – Parachutiste.[3]
  • 1945 – Parachuter.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A parachute, a canopy that slows the fall of a person or object through the air.[9][1]
  2. A braking parachute for an aircraft after landing.[9]
  3. (mining) A safety catch that stops a cage from falling down a shaft.[2][7]
  4. Parachute doré: a golden parachute.[1][3]

Word family

  • parachuter
  • parachutisme
  • parachutiste

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 634b
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Parachute.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/parachute. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·