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pluvial

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Etymology and origin of the French word pluvial

pluvial1 of rain

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1488 La Mer des Histoires
Borrowed from
Latin pluvialis
Ultimate origin
Latin pluvia
Etymology tree of pluvial1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pluō
Latin pluvius
Latin pluvia
Spanish lluvia
Latin pluviālis
English pluvial
French pluvial
From the same root · pluvial1
Latin pluviāle ← pluviālis

Pronunciation

Forms

pluvial (feminine pluviale, masculine plural pluviaux, feminine plural pluviales)[1]

Etymology

The word for “of rain” is borrowed from Latin pluviālis (“of rain, produced by rain”), from pluvia (“rain”).[2][3][4][5] Rey describes it as a second borrowing of the Latin adjective, made in the late 15th century, after the liturgical noun pluvial2.[3] The inherited word from the same Latin family is pluie.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Eaues pluviales “rainwater” appears in La Mer des Histoires in 1488.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Its usual sense is “coming from rain”, but from 1521 it also meant “abounding in rain”, overlapping with pluvieux, mainly in literary use.[3][2] A botanical sense, of plants that close their flowers in damp air, is recorded in 1811.[2][6] In geography and climatology it gave régime pluvial, of a river fed mainly by rain, and forêt pluviale, the tropical rainforest.[6][7] As a noun, un pluvial is a rainy period of the Quaternary.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 1488 – Eaues pluviales in La Mer des Histoires.[2][4]
  • 1521 – Temps pluviaulx “rainy weather” in the records of Tournai.[2][6]
  • 1530 – Palsgrave records it; the Grand Robert's date for the adjective.[6][5]
  • 1811 – Mozin records the botanical sense.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Relating to or coming from rain: eau pluviale, rainwater.[7][2][8]
  2. (literary) Marked by heavy rain; rainy.[2][6]
  3. (geography) Régime pluvial: the regime of a river fed mainly by rain rather than by melting snow.[7][6]
  4. Forêt pluviale: rainforest.[6]
  5. (botany) Of a plant whose flower closes in damp weather.[2][6]

Noun

  1. (climatology) A pluvial, a period of heavy rainfall in the Quaternary.[2][6]

pluvial2 cope

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1174–1178 Étienne de Fougères, Livre des Manières
Borrowed from
Latin pluvialis
Ultimate origin
Latin pluvia
Etymology tree of pluvial2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pluō
Latin pluvius
Latin pluvia
Spanish lluvia
Latin pluviālis
English pluvial
French pluvial
From the same root · pluvial2
Latin pluviāle ← pluviālis

Pronunciation

Forms

pluvial m (plural pluviaux)[1]

Etymology

The word for the cope is borrowed from Medieval Latin pluviālis (“liturgical cloak”),[2][3] the noun use of Latin pluviālis (“of rain”), from pluvia (“rain”).[2][5] Littré explains it as a garment against the rain.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Étienne de Fougères' Livre des Manières (1174–1178) uses it for a liturgical mantle.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It was sometimes used as an adjective, as in vestemens pluvialz (1374), but was mostly replaced by chape.[3][2] Furetière (1690) describes the old sense, a rain cloak worn by clerics.[6][8]

Timeline

  • 1174–1178 – First recorded in Étienne de Fougères.[2][3]
  • 1374 – Vestemens pluvialz, in Goulain's Rational.[2]
  • 1690 – Furetière records the sense “rain cloak of clerics”.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Catholicism) A cope, the long liturgical cloak more often called chape, worn at vespers, processions and the incensing.[2][8]
  2. (obsolete) A cloak worn by clerics against the rain.[8][6]

Usage notes

The Grand Robert numbers pluvial “of rain” as 1 and the liturgical noun as 2, although the noun is recorded three centuries earlier.[5][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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 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. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pluvial.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/pluvial. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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