Etymologically
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parole

Etymology and origin of the French word parole

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland
Inherited from
Latin *paraula
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (παραβολή)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pa.ʁɔl/[1]

Forms

parole f (plural paroles)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *paraula, from parabola (“parable; grave, inspired speech”), borrowed from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ, “comparison”).[2][3][4][1][5] In classical Latin “parabola” was a term of rhetoric for a comparison (Seneca, Quintilian); the Christian sense of a solemn utterance comes from Hebrew “māšāl”, which it translated.[2] Because it was so common in religious language, while verbum was kept for the divine Word, it replaced “verbum” as the word for speech in all the Romance languages except Romanian.[2][6][3] It is a doublet of the learned parabole and of palabre.[1]

Cognate with Italian parola, Occitan paraula, Catalan paraula, Spanish palabra and Portuguese palavra; Romanian parolă means “password”.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has it both of speech in general, De sa parole ne fut mie hastifs (“he was not hasty in his speech”), and of words spoken: De cez paroles que vous avez ci dit.[8][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it also meant the tone of voice (about 1140), where modern French says voix, and, from about 1165 the faculty of speech (de joie li faut la parole).[8][2] From about 1165 it meant a promise (doner parole), the source of many phrases: sur votre parole (1628), homme de parole (1633), manquer à sa parole (1611), tenir parole (1669), parole d'honneur (1694), sur parole (1747).[8][2][9] It also meant empty talk (paroles pleines de vent, about 1470) and teaching, especially the Word of God (1188, la Parole de Dieu, 1670).[8][2]

In the 17th century it took the senses of eloquence (Nicot, 1606) and the right to speak (La Bruyère, 1688), whence avoir, demander, donner la parole.[8][2] The oath ma parole! is found in 1795.[9] In 1916 Saussure made parole the individual use of language, opposed to langue.[8][2] In the plural it means the words of a song.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Chanson de Roland.[8]
  • c. 1165 – The faculty of speech; a promise.[8]
  • 1188 – Teaching.[8]
  • 1606 – Eloquence, in Nicot.[8]
  • 1611 – Manquer à sa parole, Cotgrave.[9]
  • 1633 – Homme de parole, Guez de Balzac.[8]
  • 1688 – The right to speak, La Bruyère.[8]
  • 1795 – Ma parole!.[9]
  • 1916 – Saussure's parole.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. speech, the faculty of speaking: perdre la parole, il ne lui manque que la parole.[1][4]
  2. A word, an utterance, (plural) words, remarks: de belles paroles.[1][7]
  3. A promise, one's word: donner sa parole, tenir parole, croire sur parole.[1][2]
  4. The right to speak, the floor: avoir, demander, prendre la parole.[1][8]
  5. (plural) The lyrics of a song.[1]
  6. (religion) La Parole (de Dieu): the Word of God.[2]
  7. (linguistics) Speech as the individual use of language, opposed to langue.[8][2]
  8. Ma parole!: my word!, honestly![9][4]

Word family

  • parolier

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 603a
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
  9. ^ a b c d e Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Parole.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/parole. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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