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stagnant

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Etymology and origin of the French word stagnant

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1546 Rabelais More words from the 16th century
Borrowed from
Latin stagnans
Ultimate origin
Latin stagnum

Forms

stagnant (feminine stagnante, masculine plural stagnants, feminine plural stagnantes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin stagnāns (“standing still”), the present participle of stāgnō (“to form a pool, to make stagnant”).[2][3][4] The Latin verb is derived from stāgnum (“pool, standing water”),[2] which Littré links with the root of stō (“to stand”).[5] The adjective entered French long before the verb stagner (1788).[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Rabelais, in eaue stagnante “standing water”, water that does not flow away.[2][3] The DHLF, the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it to 1546; the TLFi cites the Tiers Livre under 1552.[3][4][6][2]

Semantic evolution

From the start it was said of a fluid that does not flow or renew itself.[3][2] A medical use for the body's humours (humeur stagnante, 1762) has gone out of use;[3][5] Littré still defined it as said of blood and humours that cease to circulate.[3][5] The figurative sense “inactive, making no progress” appears in Beaumarchais in 1773,[2][3] and is now used especially of business and the economy.[6][7]

English borrowed the word from French in the 17th century.[8]

Timeline

  • 1546 – First record, in Rabelais.[3][4]
  • 1762 – Used in medicine of the humours.[3]
  • 1773 – Beaumarchais uses it figuratively, “inactive”.[2][3]
  • 1782 – The derivative stagnance appears, in Laclos.[2]
  • 1788 – The verb stagner is first recorded.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of water or another fluid: not flowing, staying in the same place, stagnant: une mare stagnante.[7][2][6]
  2. (figurative) Showing little activity, making no progress, sluggish, especially in trade and the economy.[7][6][2]

Word family

  • stagnance
  • stagner
  • stagnation
  • étang
  • Latin stagnum

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Stagnant.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/stagnant. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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