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parade

Etymology and origin of the French word parade

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French parade
English parade

French has two words spelled parade: the display, from parer “to adorn”, and the parry, from parer “to ward off”.[1][2][3]

parade1 display

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
before 1455, Georges Chastellain
Ultimate origin
Latin (parō)

Forms

parade f (plural parades)[4]

Etymology

The display is derived from parer “to adorn” with the suffix -ade.[5][6] Rey and the Grand Robert say the suffix follows the feminine participle ending of Provençal, Old Occitan having parada in 1366.[5][6] The TLFi adds an influence of Spanish parada (“stopping a horse short”), from parar (“to halt a horse”), itself from Latin parō (“to prepare, arrange”).[1] Littré and Bloch and Wartburg make the riding term the starting point: the word came into France under François I with its Spanish sense, and the other senses developed in French under the influence of parer “to adorn”.[7][3] Rey treats the riding term (1575) as a separate borrowing from Spanish.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges Chastellain, before 1455, uses it for the display one makes of something to show oneself off.[1][5]

Semantic evolution

De parade qualifies objects for show, as in lit de parade (1558, Du Bellay), and faire parade de “to show off” appears in Calvin (1541 or 1561).[1][8][5] In the 16th century it became a military term: a display of forces before the enemy (1571), the evolutions of horsemen in a carousel (late 16th century, Brantôme), and the modern parade of troops, which a royal regulation of 25 July 1665 ordered the French Guards to hold.[1][5][7] In the theatre it named the comic sketch played at the door of a fairground booth to draw in the public (1680, Richelet), and then a kind of comic play (1731), a thriving genre in the 18th and early 19th centuries.[1][5][9] In zoology it names the courtship display of animals.[2]

English took parade in the 1650s, for a show of bravado and an assembly of troops for inspection.[10]

Timeline

  • before 1455 – Georges Chastellain uses it for ostentatious display.[1]
  • 1558 – Lict de parade appears in Du Bellay.[1]
  • 1571 – Belleforest uses it for a display of military forces.[1]
  • 1576 – The derivative se parader “to strut” is recorded.[5]
  • 1650s – English borrows the word.[10]
  • 1665 – A royal regulation orders troops to faire la parade.[1][7]
  • 1680 – Richelet records the sketch played outside a fairground booth.[1]
  • 1731 – Le Tailleur, parade is the title of a comic play.[1][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A display made to show oneself off; ostentation: faire parade de ses lectures.[4][2]
  2. De parade: for show only: habit de parade, lit de parade.[4][2]
  3. A military parade or review.[4][2]
  4. A short comic act at the door of a fairground booth to draw in the public; a showy procession.[4][2]
  5. (zoology) The courtship display of an animal.[2]
  6. (riding) The stopping of a horse on the spot.[2][8]

Word family

  • parader
  • paradeur

parade2 parry

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1628, Thibault
Borrowed from
Italian parare
Ultimate origin
Italian (parare)

Forms

parade f (plural parades)[4]

Etymology

The parry is derived from parer “to ward off” with the suffix -ade.[1][2][3] This verb, a fencing term from 1559, is borrowed from Italian parare (“to ward off a blow”), from Latin parō (“to prepare”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1628, in Girard Thibault's Académie de l'espée, as a fencing term: the action of turning aside an opponent's blade.[1][3]

Semantic evolution

From fencing and combat sports it passed to any defence, and Saint-Simon uses it (1740–55) for a riposte; in modern French trouver la parade is to find a counter to an attack or a manoeuvre.[1][2]

Timeline

  • 1559 – Parer un coup “to parry a blow” is recorded.[3]
  • 1628 – Parade appears in Thibault's treatise on fencing.[1]
  • 1740–55 – Saint-Simon uses it for a riposte.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A parry: the warding off of a blow or shot in fencing and combat sports.[2][1]
  2. A defence or counter to an attack: trouver la parade.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  3. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  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. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Parade.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/parade. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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