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prude

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Etymology and origin of the French word prude

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1640 Rotrou, Les Captifs More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origin
Vulgar Latin prode
From the same root
English prudish ← prude

Pronunciation

Forms

prude (plural prudes)[1] Old French preude (about 1165, Gautier d'Arras) and prode in prode femme;[2][3][4] prude from the 17th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Old French prodefemme (“serious, worthy woman”) (late 12th century), the feminine counterpart of preudome, the old form of prud'homme, shortened to its first element.[5][6][2][7] The vowel /y/ is probably due to the influence of prudent.[5][6][7][3] Littré took the word as the old feminine of the adjective preux, which is why it first had only a favourable sense.[4]

That adjective comes from Vulgar Latin prode (“useful, profitable”).[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun in 1640 (Rotrou, Les Captifs) and as an adjective in 1651, prude was a term of praise: a wise, serious, virtuous woman.[5][6] Littré quotes the older prude femme from the 13th century: Il n'[y] a plus prude femme jusqu'à la mer salée (“there is no worthier woman from here to the salt sea”).[4]

Semantic evolution

For a time the word was used as adjective and noun of both sexes.[7] Through fausse prude “false prude” (1651, Scarron) it soon turned pejorative: “a person who affects modesty” (1656, abbé de Pure) and “a woman of excessive or affected reserve in morals and propriety” (1656, Mlle de Scudéry).[5][6] Rey links it with the other mocking words of the period, such as the précieuses ridicules of Molière.[6]

It produced pruderie (1666, Molière), which had its pejorative sense from the first.[6][7] The older laudatory sense survives only as an archaism.[5][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1165 – Gautier d'Arras writes preude.[2]
  • Late 12th century – Old French prodefemme “serious, worthy woman”.[5][6]
  • 1640 – Rotrou uses prude as a noun, “virtuous woman”.[5][6]
  • 1651 – Scarron uses fausse prude.[5][6]
  • 1656 – The pejorative sense “one who affects modesty” appears.[5][6][9]
  • 1666 – Molière uses the derivative pruderie.[6][7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (dated) Virtuous and austere, disapproving of loose morals.[9][5]
  2. Showing an excessive or affected pudeur, especially about love and sex; prudish: Elle n'est pas prude, elle rit de tout.[9][5]

Noun

  1. A prudish person, usually a woman: faire la prude, jouer les prudes.[9]

Word family

  • pruderie

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 420a
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Prude.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/prude. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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