Etymologically
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vert

Etymology and origin of the French word vert

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland
Inherited from
Latin viridis via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (vireō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /vɛʁ/[1]
  • IPA (Quebec): /vaɛ̯ʁ/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): /væ(r)/[1]

Forms

vert (feminine verte, masculine plural verts, feminine plural vertes)[1] Old French masculine vert or verd, feminine vert (until the 16th century) and verte; the Académie wrote verd until 1740.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French vert, inherited from Latin viridis (“green; fresh, vigorous”), through Late Latin virdis, from vireō (“to be green”), a word of unknown origin.[2][3][4][1][5] Wiktionary explains the Old French /t/ as regular final devoicing, kept when the feminine took “-e” in Middle French.[1] A form “verde”, supported by the derivatives, coexisted in the Middle Ages and survives in many northern, eastern and south-eastern dialects.[4]

Cognate with Italian verde, Spanish verde, Portuguese verde, Catalan verd and Romanian verde.[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it names the colour: sur l'herbe verte, “on the green grass”.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

As in Latin it was used of unripe grain and fruit (about 1185, verdes feves), and of wood still full of sap (1260), whence volée de bois vert (1784).[2][3] The vigour of plants gave senses such as “young, sprightly” (late 13th century), verte vieillesse (1532–46) and vert galant (1550); en dire des vertes et des pas mûres goes back to Old French vertes et meures.[2][3] In the 15th century it meant fiery, harsh (un vert debat), and, from 1857 risqué, the sense of langue verte “slang”.[2] Prendre sans vert (1546) recalls a May game in which one had to wear a green leaf.[4][3]

The 20th century made it the colour of “go” on traffic lights (1931) and of the countryside and ecology: espace vert (1954), Europe verte (1964), les Verts (1978).[8][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Herbe verte, Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1185 – “Unripe”, Aliscans.[2]
  • 1260 – Of fresh-cut wood.[2]
  • 1546 – Verte vieillesse, prendre sans vert, Rabelais.[2][4]
  • 1550 – Vert galant.[3]
  • 1857 – “Risqué”.[2]
  • 1931 – Le vert of traffic lights.[8]
  • 1978 – Les Verts, the ecologists.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. green: l'herbe verte, feu vert.[6][1]
  2. Unripe: des fruits verts; of wood, green, not seasoned.[2][6]
  3. Of a person, pale, livid: vert de peur, vert de rage.[1][9]
  4. Of an old person, still vigorous, hale: une verte vieillesse.[3][6]
  5. Sharp, harsh: une verte réprimande; risqué: en dire des vertes et des pas mûres.[2][1]
  6. Green, environmental, ecological: énergie verte, le parti vert.[1][2]
  7. Rural, of the countryside: tourisme vert, classe verte.[2][1]

Noun

  1. The colour green; a green traffic light: passer au vert.[10][8]
  2. Se mettre au vert: to take a rest in the country.[10][3]
  3. Les Verts: the Greens, the ecologist party.[2]

Word family

  • verdâtre
  • verdelet
  • verdeur
  • verdir
  • reverdir
  • verdoyer
  • verdure
  • verdier
  • vert-de-gris
  • verger
  • verjus
  • Latin viridis

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 k l m n o p q r 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 507a
  6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Vert.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/vert. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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