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type

Etymology and origin of the French word type

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1380
Borrowed from
Latin typus
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (τύπτω)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek τύπος
Latin typus
English type
French type
English stereotype

Pronunciation

Forms

type m (plural types)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin typus (“figure, image; model; type”), taken over about 1380, from Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos, “impression of a blow; mark; figure, model”), derived from τύπτω (túptō, “to strike”).[2][3][4][5][6][1] The Greek word was first a technical term for the hollow or raised impression left by striking a die, then the emblem on it, a seal or a relief, and later any form, figure or outline; in the Septuagint it meant “model, example”.[2][4] Rey connects “túptō” with an Indo-European root “*(s)teu-” “to strike”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 14th century in a Latin–French glossary, the Aalma, glossing tipus as “figure, form, state, likeness”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Middle French took it in abstract senses: from the vocabulary of exegesis, a person or event of the Old Testament prefiguring the New (1531), and, from Plato, the ideal form of a thing (before 1596).[3][2][4] In printing it named a piece of type (1545).[7] Buffon used it in 1778 for the form of a species, and Restif de la Bretonne in 1776 for the perfect example of a quality (le type de la beauté); in art it named an ideal model (1777) and in literature a character embodying a class of people (1811).[3]

In popular speech un type means “a guy, a fellow” (about 1845), whence typesse (1888).[4] As an adjective placed after a noun, it means “typical, model”: un contrat type.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – Tipe in the Aalma glossary.[3][2]
  • 1531 – A type in theology.[3][7]
  • 1545 – A printing type.[7]
  • Before 1596 – A Platonic form, in Vigenère.[3]
  • 1778 – The type of a species, in Buffon.[3]
  • c. 1845 – Un type “a guy”.[4]
  • 1888 – Typesse.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A type, kind or sort: ce type de voiture.[1][7]
  2. A perfect example or model: le type même du savant.[3]
  3. A set of features typical of a group: le type méditerranéen.[3]
  4. (familiar) A guy, a fellow: un chic type.[4][1]
  5. (printing) A typeface, (numismatics) the figure on a coin.[7]
  6. (theology) A figure of the Old Testament prefiguring the New.[3][4]

Adjective

  1. Typical, standard: une lettre type.[1]

Word family

  • typé
  • typique
  • typesse
  • typographie
  • prototype
  • stéréotype
  • Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 460b
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Descendants

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Type.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/type. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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