Etymologically
Log in

usure

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word usure

usure1 usury

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1140 Geffrei Gaimar, Estoire des Engleis
Borrowed from
Latin usura
Ultimate origin
Latin ūtor
Etymology tree of usure1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin ūtor
Latin ūsūra
Spanish usura
French usure
Italian usura
From the same root · usure1
Latin abūtor ← ūtor
Latin ūsitātus ← ūtor
Latin ūsus ← ūtor
Latin ūtēnsilis ← ūtor
Latin ūtilis ← ūtor
Romanian abuz ← ūtor
Latin ūsūrārius ← ūsūra

Pronunciation

Forms

usure f (usually uncountable, plural usures)[1]

Etymology

The word for interest on money is borrowed from Latin ūsūra (“interest on money, use of lent capital”),[2][3][4][5] a legal term in Rome[3] formed on ūsus, from ūtor (“to use”).[2][3][6] The same Latin word gave Italian usura, Old Occitan uzura, Catalan usura, Spanish usura and Portuguese usura.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1140 in Geffrei Gaimar's history of the English,[2][6] in the sense of profit drawn from money lent, interest.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Taking interest on a loan was long condemned as immoral by the Church, and until the 16th century usure named any interest.[9][3] When that view faded, a distinction grew between interest at a normal rate, which Calvin set at 5%, and interest at an excessive rate, and after some hesitation usure was restricted to the latter.[9][3] Pascal used it in this narrower sense in 1656, and it was usual by Furetière's dictionary in 1690.[2][3][9] The neutral sense survived into the 18th century in histories of Rome.[9][3]

The figurative phrase avec usure, “giving back more than one received”, appears in 1608 in Régnier.[6][3] The derivative usurier, first usurer (1170) and remade in 1213, followed the same narrowing.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1140 – Geffrei Gaimar uses it.[2]
  • 1170 – The derivative usurer is recorded, remade as usurier in 1213.[3]
  • 13th century – Beaumanoir defines usure as lending money for more in return.[8]
  • 1608 – Régnier uses avec usure figuratively.[6][3]
  • 1656 – Pascal's eighth Provinciale uses it for interest above the lawful rate.[2][3]
  • 1690 – Furetière gives the sense of an abusive rate of interest.[6][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (dated) Interest produced by money lent.[10][2]
  2. Interest at an excessive rate, above the legal maximum (taux de l'usure), and the practice of lending at such a rate; usury: prêter à usure, délit d'usure.[10][6][2]
  3. (literary) Avec usure: with more than one received: rendre avec usure.[10][3]

Word family

  • usurier

usure2 wear

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1530 Palsgrave
Ultimate origin
Latin ūtor
Etymology tree of usure2
inherited borrowed derived
French user
French usure

Pronunciation

Forms

usure f (uncountable)[1]

Etymology

The word for wear is formed from French user + -ure.[2][4][1][3] Wiktionary calls it a piecewise doublet of the word for usury.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Palsgrave records it in 1530,[2][4] for the deterioration of something through long use, shortly after usé took that sense.[3]

Semantic evolution

The word was rare before the 19th century.[4][3] Littré gives the wear of clothes, and in veterinary use of teeth and horseshoes, with a pathological sense for the wasting of teeth, cartilage or bone.[8] Figuratively it has meant the weakening of a quality or of health since 1874, whence the familiar phrase avoir qqn à l'usure.[3][10] By metonymy it also names a worn part of something.[2]

Timeline

  • 1530 – Palsgrave records it.[2][4]
  • 1874 – First used of the weakening of a quality or of health.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Deterioration through prolonged use or through mechanical or chemical action; wear: l'usure des pneus.[10][2]
  2. The action of what wears something down: l'usure du temps.[10]
  3. The weakening or loss of a quality, of strength or of health; fatigue;[10][3] guerre d'usure, a war of attrition;[10][3] (familiar) avoir qqn à l'usure, to get the better of someone by wearing them out.[10][3]
  4. The state of something worn by use, and by metonymy a worn part: les usures d'un tapis.[10][2]

Usage notes

The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert number the two words: usure 1 “usury” (1138) and usure 2 “wear” (1530); the TLFi has them as usure¹ and usure².[4][10][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 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 l m n o p q r s t u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 83a
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Usure.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/usure. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·