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Etymology and origin of the French word roc

roc1 rock

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
c. 1470 George Chastellain's Chronique
Ultimate origin
Medieval Latin rocca
Etymology tree of roc1
inherited borrowed derived
French roche
French roc
Derivations · roc1

Pronunciation

Forms

roc m (plural rocs)[1]

Etymology

The word for the rock is from French roche, made as a masculine counterpart of that feminine noun.[2][3][4][5][6] That noun comes from Medieval Latin rocca (“rock”) (8th century), a pre-Latin type of unknown origin.[5] The DHLF thinks the word older than its first record, judging by its derivatives.[5] Wiktionary doubts this derivation unless the word came from a dialect that kept the /k/, such as Picard or Occitan, and treats the two words as doublets.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1470, in George Chastellain's Chronique, in the sense “rocher”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Roc is more literary than rocher and often suggests the bedrock beneath;[5] Condillac thought that it stressed the hardness and stability of the stone.[5] Like roche and rocher, it became a symbol of unfeeling hardness or of unshakeable firmness: it was said of an insensitive person in 1626.[2][5] The figurative bâtir sur le roc “to build something lasting” is recorded by the Académie in 1694.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1470 – First recorded, in Chastellain's Chronique.[2][5]
  • 1512 – Jean Lemaire de Belges uses it.[3][7]
  • 1626 – Applied to an unfeeling person.[2][5]
  • 1694 – The Académie records bâtir sur le roc.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (literary) A block or mass of hard stone rising from the ground.[4][2]
  2. Hard rock as a material: un escalier taillé dans le roc.[4][7]
  3. (figurative) A person or thing that nothing can shake: solide comme un roc.[4][8]
  4. Bâtir sur le roc: to build something solid and lasting.[4][8]
  5. (regional) In the Pas-de-Calais, coal shale.[7]

Word family

roc2 rook (chess)

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1170
Borrowed from
Persian رخ
Ultimate origin
Persian رخ

Pronunciation

Forms

roc m (plural rocs)[1]

Etymology

The word for the chess rook is borrowed from Persian رخ (ruḫ), the Persian name of the piece, which was shown as an elephant carrying a tower; it probably came through Spanish roque, after passing from Persian into Arabic.[5][9][3][8][10] The Persian word was also the name of a fabulous bird.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded about 1170 as the name of the tour in chess.[3][5] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has it from the late 12th century as the corner piece that moves in a straight line.[11]

Semantic evolution

It was the usual name of the piece until the 16th century, then gave way to tour.[9] It survives in heraldry for a charge shaped like the chess tower (1581), and in the verb roquer “to castle” (1690).[3][5][2] English borrowed the Old French word as roke about 1300, the source of rook.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 1170 – First recorded as the chess piece.[3][5]
  • c. 1300 – English borrows it as roke.[12]
  • 1581 – Used in heraldry.[3][5]
  • 1690 – Furetière records the derivative roquer.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (dated, chess) The rook, now called tour.[1][8]
  2. (heraldry) A charge representing the chess rook.[3]

Word family

  • roquer

Usage notes

A third roc (also rock), the giant bird of Persian and Arabic legend, l'oiseau roc, was taken from Arabic in Galland's translation of the Thousand and One Nights at the beginning of the 18th century;[5][3] Marco Polo had used the form ruc in 1298, and the DHLF considers it the same word as the chess term.[5][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 435b
  7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  10. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 147b
  11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Roc.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/roc. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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