Etymologically
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victoire

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 21:00. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /vik.twaʁ/[1]

Forms

victoire f (plural victoires)[1] Victorie (1080), victoire (about 1155); 16th-century pronunciation vitoire.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin victōria (“victory; the goddess Victory; her statue”),[4][2][5][6] first as “victorie” and then Frenchified as “victoire”.[2][1] The Latin word is the feminine of an adjective formed from victor (“conqueror”), from victum, the supine of vincō (“to conquer”), the source of vaincre.[2][7]

Cognate with Old Occitan victoria, Spanish victoria and Italian vittoria, all learned words.[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has Avrum nos la victorie del champ? “shall we have the victory of the field?”;[4][3] Wace (1160–1174) has the form victoire.[4]

Semantic evolution

About 1220 it was used of any advantage won over a rival or in a struggle, and in 1551 Ronsard writes of the spirit's victory over the flesh, a moral victory.[4][2] The goddess and the winged figure that represents her appear in Ronsard (1555) and du Bellay (1558), as in the Victoire de Samothrace.[4][2] Victoire ! as a cry is in d'Urfé (1624), and chanter victoire in Madame de Sévigné (1680).[4]

Victoire à la Pyrrhus (1912, victoire de Pyrrhus, 1834) recalls the costly victories of Pyrrhus of Epirus over the Romans in 280–279 BC.[4][2] Voler au secours de la victoire “to rally to the winning side too late” is in Proust (1922), after Clemenceau's venir au secours de la victoire (1899).[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Victorie in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1160–1174 – Victoire in Wace.[4]
  • c. 1265 – Victorieux.[2]
  • 1551 – A moral victory, in Ronsard.[4]
  • 1555 – The goddess Victory, in Ronsard.[4]
  • 1680 – Chanter victoire.[4]
  • 1912 – Victoire à la Pyrrhus.[4]
  • 1922 – Voler au secours de la victoire in Proust.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Victory in a battle or war: remporter une victoire.[9][10]
  2. Success in any contest or struggle; a win: la victoire d'un joueur d'échecs.[11][1]
  3. Chanter, crier victoire: to crow, claim victory.[11][4]
  4. Victoire à la Pyrrhus: a Pyrrhic victory.[9][11]
  5. La Victoire: the winged goddess of victory; a statue of her.[9][12]

Word family

  • victorieux
  • victorieusement

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 417b
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse