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Etymology and origin of the French word rogue

French has two words spelled rogue: the adjective “haughty, arrogant”, recorded from the late 12th century, and the noun for fish roe used as bait, recorded from 1723.[1][2]

rogue1 haughty

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1180 Hue de Rotelande, Ipomedon
Borrowed from
Old Norse hrókr
Ultimate origin
Old Norse hrókr

Pronunciation

Forms

rogue (plural rogues)[3] Old French rogre, which became rogue by dissimilation.[2][4]

Etymology

The word for “haughty” is borrowed from Old Norse hrókr (“excess, insolence”).[2][4][5] The TLFi suggests that the Norse noun may have become an adjective at the moment it entered French, and that the older form rogre lost its second /r/ by dissimilation.[2] Compare Icelandic hroki (“arrogance”).[3] Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert give the Norse source only as possible.[6][1]

Pierre Guiraud, comparing arrogant, proposed instead a hypothetical Gallo-Romance form, Vulgar Latin *rogicus, from a verb *rogicō parallel to Latin rogitō (“to ask insistently”), the frequentative of rogō (“to ask”).[4][1] Littré notes that Diez thought the word was brought by the Norsemen who settled in Normandy, but doubted it because Celtic languages have related words, such as Breton rog (“proud”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, rogre in Hue de Rotelande's Ipomedon (about 1180), means “aggressive, emboldened”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From the aggressive sense the word moved to that of a person who is at once scornful, cold and rough, a use found in Jean de Meun's part of the Roman de la Rose (1269–1278).[2][4] By metonymy it was then said of the tone, voice, air or manners of such a person, as in maintien rogue (1567).[2][4]

Its derivatives roguement (1564) and roguerie (Saint-Simon, first half of the 18th century) never became common.[4][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1180 – Rogre “aggressive” appears in Hue de Rotelande's Ipomedon.[2]
  • c. 1212 – First date given by the Grand Robert and the GLLF, from Anger.[1][8]
  • 1269–1278 – Jean de Meun uses it in the sense “haughty” in the Roman de la Rose.[2][7]
  • 1564 – The adverb roguement is recorded.[4]
  • 1567 – Baïf writes maintien rogue, of a person's bearing.[2]
  • 1740–1755 – Roguerie appears in Saint-Simon's memoirs.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a person: haughty and disdainful, cold and rough towards others.[9][2]
  2. Of a tone, voice, air or manner: showing such arrogance: il répondit d'une voix rogue.[2][8][9]

rogue2 fish roe

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1723 Savary
Borrowed from
Old Norse hrogn
Ultimate origin
Old Norse hrogn

Pronunciation

Forms

rogue f (plural rogues)[3]

Etymology

The word for fish roe used as bait is probably borrowed from Old Norse hrogn (“fish spawn”), despite its late first record, since it is found chiefly in Normandy.[2][6][9][10] Compare Danish rogn and Norwegian Bokmål rogn.[2][6]

The Grand Robert and Rey take it instead from Breton rog, itself borrowed from the Germanic word.[1][4] Wiktionary allows also Dutch roge as the immediate source and traces the Germanic word to Proto-Germanic *hrugną (“spawn, roe”); it is cognate with English roe and German Rogen.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1723 Savary records it in fishing, for the cod or herring roe used as bait.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From bait for sea fishing, above all for sardines, the word came to name fish roe in general, salted, smoked or ground for the kitchen, a use recorded by Littré in 1870.[2][4] The adjective rogué “full of roe”, said of a female fish, is recorded from 1772.[2]

Timeline

  • 1723 – Savary records rogue as fishing bait.[2][6]
  • 1772 – Rogué “carrying roe” appears in Duhamel du Monceau.[2]
  • 1870 – Littré records it for fish eggs in general.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (fishing) Cod or herring roe used as bait, especially for sardine fishing.[9][2]
  2. Fish eggs prepared for sale, salted, smoked or ground.[2][4]
  • arrogant

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 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 Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 249b
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 247b

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Rogue.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/rogue. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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