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parier

Etymology and origin of the French word parier

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1313, Le Martyre de saint Baccus
Ultimate origin
Latin (par)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pa.ʁje/[1]

Forms

parier[1]

Etymology

It is from Old French perier (“to go together with, be equal to”), remade after Late Latin pariō (“to make equal; to be equal”); the Old French verb was derived from the adjective per (“equal”) (see pair), and the old sense “to mate” comes from Old French pairier (“to couple”), derived from paire.[2][3][4][1] The Late Latin verb is formed on pār (“equal”).[3][5][6]

The Late Latin verb also gave Old Occitan pariar (“to share”) and Spanish pariar (“to pay tribute”).[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Le Martyre de saint Baccus (1313) has pariier for comparing, putting on a par with;[2][8] Amyot (1559) has se parier à, quel champion se parira à un tel homme?.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense appeared in the 16th century: to assert, stake oneself on an opinion (1547, Mellin de Saint-Gelais), and at play to stake a sum on a bet (1549, Robert Estienne), properly “to put up equal stakes”.[2][3][4][5] Monet (1636) records betting that a named player will win (parier sur), and Pascal (1662) uses it absolutely, “to take the risk of choosing”, in the wager on the existence of God.[2][3] From 1762 (Voltaire) it also means “to be fairly sure that”, and in weakened form “to think, suppose”.[3][9]

The sense “to pair, mate” (1464), still used of mares by Olivier de Serres, has died out and is now taken by apparier.[2][3][8] The derivatives are pari (1640, pary), parieur (1640) and the hunting term pariade (1690), the pairing season of birds.[3][4]

Timeline

  • 1313 – Pariier “to compare, put on a par”.[2]
  • 1464 – “To pair, mate”, in Pierre Michault.[2]
  • 1547 – “To stake oneself on an opinion”, in Mellin de Saint-Gelais.[2]
  • 1549 – “To bet (a sum)”, in Robert Estienne.[2][4]
  • 1636 – Parier sur a player, in Monet.[2]
  • 1640 – Pary “bet” and parieur.[3]
  • 1662 – Pascal's wager.[2][3]
  • 1762 – “To be fairly sure that”, in Voltaire.[3][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To bet, wager (a stake): je parie une bouteille de champagne qu'il acceptera, qu'est-ce qu'on parie ?[6][1]
  2. To bet on (a competitor): parier vingt euros sur le favori.[6]
  3. To be fairly sure, suppose.[3][9][3][9]
  4. (rare) To pair, mate.[1][6]

Word family

  • pari
  • parieur
  • pariade
  • pair
  • paire
  • apparier
  • Latin pār

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
Cite this entry

“Parier.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/parier. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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