Etymologically
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pendre

Etymology and origin of the French word pendre

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 10th century, Passion de Clermont
Inherited from
Latin *pendere via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (pendeō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pɑ̃dʁ/[1]

Forms

pendre[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pendre, inherited from Vulgar Latin *pendĕre, from classical Latin pendēre (“to hang, be suspended”),[2][3][4][5] with a change of conjugation after the related transitive verb pendere (“to hang up; to weigh”).[3][1] The Romance languages took the third-conjugation form and so united the intransitive and transitive senses.[3][6] The transitive Latin verb gave peser and penser through “pensare”.[3][7] Rey mentions a possible link with Lithuanian “pìnti” “to plait” and Gothic “spinnan” “to spin”;[3] Wiktionary gives Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to pull; to spin”).[1]

Cognate with Italian pendere, Spanish pender and Portuguese pender.[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion of Clermont (late 10th century) has cortine pend “the curtain hangs”, and uses the transitive verb for crucifying.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has pendre “to hang (something) up”, and the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) “to hang (someone) by the neck”: Assez est dreiz que Guenes seit pendut.[2][6] The reflexive se pendre “to hang oneself” is in the Voyage de saint Brendan (early 12th century).[2] Pendre devant le nez (1121–1134) foreshadows pendre au nez “to be in store for”.[2][3] In 1265 Brunetto Latini uses the present participle for a lawsuit pending, the source of the preposition pendant.[2][4]

Later phrases include dire pis que pendre de qqn (1596) “to say the worst things about someone”, pendre haut et court (1690), être pendu aux lèvres de qqn (Sévigné, 1686) and se pendre au cou de qqn (1553).[8][3][2] Pendre la crémaillère is “to have a house-warming”.[1]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Cortine pend in the Passion of Clermont.[2]
  • c. 1050 – “To hang up” in Saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1100 – “To hang (a person)” in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • Early 12th century – Se pendre.[2]
  • 1121–1134 – Pendre devant le nez.[2]
  • 1596 – Dire pis que pendre.[8]
  • 1690 – Pendre haut et court.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To hang, dangle: des boucles pendaient sur ses joues; to sag, droop.[7][1]
  2. (transitive) To hang (up): pendre un tableau, pendre le linge.[9][2]
  3. To hang (someone) by the neck, pendre haut et court.[9][3]
  4. Ça lui pend au nez: it's coming to him.[7][3]
  5. Dire pis que pendre de qqn: to say the worst about someone.[3][8]
  6. Être pendu aux lèvres de qqn: to hang on someone's words.[1][3]
  7. (reflexive) To hang oneself, se pendre au cou de qqn: to throw one's arms round someone's neck.[2][3]

Word family

  • pendaison
  • pendable
  • pendant
  • pendard
  • penderie
  • pendiller
  • pente
  • dépendre
  • pendule
  • cependant

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 173a
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pendre.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/pendre. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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