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taureau

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Etymology and origin of the French word taureau

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1145 Wace, Conception Notre-Dame More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin taurus

Pronunciation

Forms

taureau m (plural taureaux)[1] Old French torel (about 1145), later toriau (1275) and toreau (14th century); the spelling taureau is first recorded in 1549.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French torel, a diminutive formed from Old French tor (“bull”) + -el.[4][2][5] The simple word is from Latin taurus (“bull, the constellation Taurus”).[4][2] The spelling with ⟨au⟩ is an etymological reaction after the Latin word.[4] The simple form was too short and too easily confused with other words, so the derivative replaced it; it survives only in dialects of the north-east and south-east.[2][5]

Cognate with Italian toro, Spanish toro, Portuguese touro, Romanian taur and Old Occitan taur.[6][5][2] The TLFi derives the Latin word from Ancient Greek ταῦρος (taûros),[4] while Rey only compares the Greek word with it, together with Lithuanian tauras (“buffalo, aurochs”) and the Gaulish god Tarvos.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace uses torel about 1145 in his Conception Notre-Dame for a bull, or a young bull.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

At first a diminutive, “young bull”, torel soon lost that value and named the adult male of the cow (about 1175), as opposed to the castrated bœuf.[2][3] It became the usual word in bullfighting: combat de taureaux is found from 1680 and course de taureaux from 1735, probably a calque of Spanish corrida de toros.[2]

Like Latin taurus, it has named the zodiacal constellation since 1487 and is used in astrology.[4][2] Its sexual values were long alive: it was said of a very virile man from 1640, but such uses have died out.[2][3] The idea of strength remains in cou de taureau (1798), and prendre le taureau par les cornes “to tackle a difficulty head-on” (1863) replaced attaquer le taureau par les cornes (1798).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1145 – Wace uses torel for a young bull.[4]
  • c. 1175 – Torel names the adult bull.[2]
  • 1275 – The resuffixed form toriau appears.[2]
  • 1487 – Toreau names the constellation of the zodiac.[4]
  • 1549 – The spelling taureau is recorded by Robert Estienne.[3][2]
  • 1640 – Oudin records it of a very virile man.[3][2]
  • 1680 – Combat de taureaux “bullfight” is first recorded.[4][2]
  • 1735 – Lesage uses course de taureaux.[2][3]
  • 1798 – Cou de taureau and attaquer le taureau par les cornes are recorded.[2]
  • 1863 – Prendre le taureau par les cornes appears.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bull, the uncastrated male of cattle, able to breed.[7][8][9]
  2. (figurative) A very strong, vigorous man.[9]
  3. Taureau de combat: a bull bred for the bullfight.[7][8]
  4. Cou de taureau: a thick, powerful neck.[8][9]
  5. Prendre le taureau par les cornes: to tackle a difficulty head-on.[8][9]
  6. (with a capital) le Taureau, the constellation and zodiac sign Taurus.[8][1]

Word family

  • taurillon
  • taurin

Usage notes

The simple Old French tor survives in the dialects of the north-east and south-east, and Provençal also uses braou for the bull, derived from brau “wild, rough”.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
  5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Taureau.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/taureau. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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