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premier

Etymology and origin of the French word premier

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 10th century, Passion of Clermont
Inherited from
Latin primarius
Ultimate origin
Latin (prīmārius)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin primus
Latin primarius
English primary
French premier

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pʁə.mje/[1]
  • IPA: /pʁə.mje.ʁ‿/[1]

Forms

premier (feminine première, masculine plural premiers, feminine plural premières)[1] Old French primers (about 980), premer, premier (Chanson de Roland); feminine premiere, première (Académie from 1740).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin prīmārius (“of the first rank”),[4][2][5][6] a derivative of Latin prīmus (“first”), which survived in Old French as “prin”, still used around Lyon for “fine, thin” (see prime, printemps).[5][7] The learned doublet is primaire.[2][1]

Compare Old Occitan primier, Catalan primer, Spanish primero and Portuguese primeiro, Italian “primiero” was taken from French.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion of Clermont (late 10th century) has primers for “the earliest”;[4][2] the Chanson de Roland has cest premier meis and nostre est li premers colps, ours is the first blow.[9]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is temporal: primers anz “the first ages” (early 12th century, later premiers temps), premier âge, premières amours and le premier venu (Grévin, 1561), and after a king's name (François premier, 1575–1585).[4][2] About 1100 it also meant what comes first in space, whence premier étage and the noun le premier (1726–1762), and la tête la première (1564; 1508 la teste première).[4][2] From 1119 it was the first in a series (primier chapitle).[4]

From about 1170 (Chrétien de Troyes) it meant first in importance or quality, whence premier président (1606), premier ministre (Académie, 1694), de première qualité and slang de première (1893).[4][3] In 1567 Amyot used it for what was so at the start, whence matière première (1690) and nombre premier (late 14th century).[4][3] As a feminine noun la première was the class of rhetoric in school (1704), the first class in transport (1838) and the first performance of a play.[4][9] Recent usage has arts premiers for the arts of non-industrial peoples.[2]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Primers in the Passion of Clermont.[4]
  • c. 1100 – Of place, in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1119 – Primier chapitle.[4]
  • c. 1170 – First in rank, in Chrétien de Troyes.[4]
  • 1561 – Le premier venu.[4]
  • 1564 – La tête la première.[4]
  • 1606 – Premier président.[4]
  • 1690 – Matière première.[4]
  • 1694 – Premier ministre.[4]
  • 1704 – La première (school class).[4]
  • 1726 – Le premier “first floor”.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. First: le premier jour du mois, la première fois, François Ier.[10][1]
  2. Foremost, leading: premier ministre, de premier ordre, au premier plan.[10][3]
  3. Original, basic: matière première, le sens premier.[4][10]
  4. (mathematics) Prime: nombre premier.[1][3]

Noun

  1. The first (one): le premier venu, jeune premier: the male lead.[10][1]
  2. Le premier: the first floor; the first of the month.[10][2]
  3. La première: the first night (of a play); first class; first gear; the penultimate year of a lycée.[9][4][11]
  4. A prime minister, premier.[1]

Word family

  • premièrement
  • premier-né
  • avant-première

Usage notes

Premier also forms premier-né, avant-première and the adverb premièrement.[10][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 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 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. 9, 376b
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Premier.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/premier. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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