Etymologically
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prairie

Etymology and origin of the French word prairie

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1150, Roman de Thèbes
Inherited from
Latin *prataria via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (prātum)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French prairie
English prairie

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pʁɛ.ʁi/[1]
  • IPA: /pʁe.ʁi/[1]

Forms

prairie f (plural prairies)[1] Old French praerie, praierie (about 1150); prairie from about 1180.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French praerie,[2][1] inherited from Vulgar Latin *prātāria,[3][5][1] formed with the suffix -āria on prāta, the neuter plural of Latin prātum (“meadow”), taken as a feminine singular.[3][2][6] It is thus a derivative of the same word as pré.[7][8]

Cognate with Italian prateria, Spanish pradería and Occitan pradaria.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Roman de Thèbes (about 1150) has praierie.[2][4] A 13th-century chronicle tells of tents pitched “en la praerie sour Seine”, in the meadow on the Seine.[9]

Semantic evolution

From the start prairie named grassland used for farming more clearly than pré did.[3] Agronomy gave prairie artificielle, a field sown with fodder crops (Olivier de Serres, 1600), and prairie naturelle (1761).[2][3]

Through English prairie, borrowed from French into American English, and Fenimore Cooper's novel The Prairie, the word came to name the vast grasslands of North America.[3][10] The revolutionary month prairial (1793) was named after it.[3][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1150 – Praierie in the Roman de Thèbes.[2][4]
  • c. 1180 – The form prairie.[3][8]
  • 1600 – Prairie artificielle (Olivier de Serres).[2]
  • 1761 – Prairie naturelle.[2][3]
  • 1793 – The month name prairial.[3][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A meadow or grassland grazed or mown for fodder.[10][2]
  2. (ecology) A natural plant community of grasses covering the ground.[4]
  3. La Prairie: the prairie of North America;[10] les Prairies, the Canadian Prairie provinces.[10][3]

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 334a
  7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Prairie.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/prairie. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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