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vieillard

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Etymology and origin of the French word vieillard

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1155 Wace, Brut More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin vetulus

Pronunciation

Forms

vieillard m (plural vieillards, feminine vieillarde)[1] Old French vieillart, veillart, viellart, veilard.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French vieil + -ard.[4][2][1] The first part is the form of vieux before a vowel, from Latin vetulus, a familiar diminutive of vetus (“old”), which became veclus, a form the Appendix Probi condemns.[5][6] Littré takes the suffix to be the pejorative -art and compares Italian vecchiardo and Old Occitan veilard.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1155 in Wace's Brut, li sage hume et li veillart “the wise men and the old men”.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Old French also used vieillard as an adjective, from the 12th to the 16th century; as a noun, it has had only that use since the 13th century.[4][8] The plural les vieillards for old people in general is recorded in 1370, in Oresme.[4][8] The word's value is relative: in the 17th century a man of 60 or even 50 counted as a vieillard.[8] It was used in law and administration from 1833 for people over 65, a use since replaced by personnes âgées and troisième âge.[8][9]

The feminine was long vieille;[4][8][10] vieillarde (1788), which Féraud called a crude barbarism, is literary and pejorative.[4][8][10] In natural history the word named a monkey (1775) and a bird (1779).[4] In modern French vieillard is more solemn than vieux.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1155 – Veillart appears in Wace's Brut.[4]
  • c. 1190 – The spelling vieillard appears.[8]
  • 1370 – Oresme uses the plural for old people in general.[4]
  • 16th century – The adjectival use dies out.[4][8]
  • 1788 – Féraud records the feminine vieillarde.[4]
  • 1833 – Used in administrative language.[9][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An old man, a man of great age: un vieillard assis sur un banc.[11][10]
  2. Les vieillards: old people, men and women.[10][7]
  3. Vieillarde (literary, pejorative): an old woman.[10][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9291
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Vieillard.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/vieillard. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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