Etymologically
Log in

rond

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁɔ̃/[1]

Forms

rond (feminine ronde, masculine plural ronds, feminine plural rondes)[1] Old French rund (1119), reont (about 1100–1160), roont (12th century); rond from about 1380.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French reont, inherited from Vulgar Latin *retundus, from Latin rotundus (“wheel-shaped, round; well-turned (of style)”) by dissimilation of the first vowel, from rota (“wheel”).[5][2][6][3][7][1] This popular form is attested in the 9th century.[5] The feminine of the Latin word came into French through Italian as rotonde, a doublet.[2][1]

Cognate with Occitan redond, Spanish redondo and Portuguese redondo, which go back to the same popular form, and with Italian rotondo, Catalan rodó and Romanian rotund.[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) says that the moon is runde cume rüele “round like a little wheel”; in his Bestiaire (1121–34) the hedgehog is ruunz cume pelute “round as a ball”.[5]

Semantic evolution

By about 1160 it described any rounded shape, and, from 1277 the plump parts of the body (ronde gambete, Adam de la Halle).[5][2] Être rond “to be drunk” is recorded in 1474, by allusion to a full belly, and gave comparisons such as rond comme une queue de pelle.[2][1] Of character it means frank and straightforward; of a figure, a round number.[2][4]

The noun rond “circle” dates from the 13th century; as slang for a coin, sou, it is found as early as 1461, whence ne pas avoir un rond.[6][1] Modern phrases include yeux ronds (1824, Balzac), ballon rond “football” (1900), table ronde “round-table meeting” (1955) and ne pas tourner rond “to be a bit mad” (1949).[5]

Timeline

  • 1119 – Runde, Philippe de Thaon.[5]
  • 13th century – The noun rond.[6]
  • c. 1380 – The form rond.[3][2]
  • 1461 – Rond “coin”.[6]
  • 1474 – Être rond “to be drunk”.[2]
  • 1824 – Yeux ronds, Balzac.[5]
  • 1955 – Table ronde “round-table meeting”.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. round, circular, spherical: la Terre est ronde, une table ronde.[4][1]
  2. Rounded, curved: le dos rond; plump: des joues rondes.[4]
  3. (of a number) Round, whole: un chiffre rond.[4]
  4. (of a person) Frank, straightforward: être rond en affaires.[4][2]
  5. (familiar) drunk.[1][2]

Noun

  1. A circle; a round object: tracer des ronds, rond de serviette.[1][4]
  2. (familiar) A coin, money: ne pas avoir un rond.[1][6]
  3. En rond: in a circle, tourner en rond, to go round in circles.[1][4]

Word family

  • ronde
  • rondeau
  • rondelet
  • rondelle
  • rondement
  • rondeur
  • rondin
  • rondouillard
  • arrondir
  • rond-point

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  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 e f g h i 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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 520a
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter