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pays

Etymology and origin of the French word pays

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 10th century, Vie de saint Léger (païs)
Inherited from
Latin pagensis via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (pāgus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pɛ.i/[1]
  • IPA: /pe.i/[1]
  • IPA: /pɛ.ji/[1]
  • IPA: /pe.ji/[1]

Forms

pays m (invariable)[1] Old French païs (10th century); the form pays is from about 1360 (Froissart), but païs was written until the end of the 17th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French païs, inherited from Medieval Latin pāgēnsis (“inhabitant of a district”), a word of Gregory of Tours, derived from Latin pāgus (“village, canton, district”).[4][3][5][6][1] The Latin adjective qualified a word for territory (“ager pagensis”), whence the sense of the land itself.[3][7] In the senses “fellow countryman” and “countryman”, “pāgēnsis” displaced the other derivative of “pāgus”, “pāgānus”, once that word came to mean “pagan” (see païen).[3]

Cognate with Italian paese and Occitan país; Catalan país, Spanish país and Portuguese país are borrowed from French.[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the second half of the 10th century in the Vie de saint Léger (tuit li omne de ciel païs “all the men of that country”), meaning an inhabited region.[4]

Semantic evolution

In the Chanson de Roland it already names whole countries, Spain, Barbary and France, and one's native land.[4][3] In the 14th century it named the provinces of France, with pays d'états, and later la coustume du pays (1315).[4][9] Du pays “local” is from 1661–1671 (vin de pays), la maladie du pays “homesickness” from 1718, later le mal du pays, voir du pays “to travel” is from 1694.[3][9]

Used of a person, pays “fellow countryman” is recorded in 1640 (Oudin), the feminine payse in 1765, Furetière described it in 1690 as a greeting among beggars of the same region.[5][10][11] Derivatives include paysan (12th century, paisenc), paysage (1549) and dépayser (1220).[5]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Païs in the Vie de saint Léger.[4]
  • c. 1100 – Spain and France named païs in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 12th century – Paisenc, later paysan.[5]
  • 1220 – Dépayser.[5]
  • c. 1360 – The spelling pays, in Froissart.[2]
  • 1549 – Paysage.[5]
  • 1640 – Pays “fellow countryman”, in Oudin.[10][5]
  • 1718 – La maladie du pays.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A country, nation, state: les pays d'Europe, pays en voie de développement.[11][1]
  2. A region, a district: le pays basque, vin de pays.[1][7]
  3. One's native land, homeland: le mal du pays.[1][3]
  4. A small town or village, especially one's own: les gens du pays.[2]
  5. Voir du pays: to travel.[9][1]
  6. (familiar, dated) A fellow countryman; feminine payse.[11][5]

Word family

  • dépayser
  • paysage
  • paysan
  • arrière-pays

Usage notes

Nul n'est prophète en son pays is the French form of “a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country”.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 469a
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pays.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/pays. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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