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vieux

Etymology and origin of the French word vieux

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis
Inherited from
Latin veclus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (vetus)

Pronunciation

Forms

vieux (masculine singular before vowel vieil, feminine vieille, masculine plural vieux, feminine plural vieilles)[1] Old French nominative vielz (about 1050), object vieil (1080), vieux (13th century); feminine vieille (about 1155).[2][3] Vieil is used before a vowel or mute h (un vieil homme), a rule applied since the 17th century.[4][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French vieil, inherited from Late Latin veclus (“old”), an alteration of classical Latin vetulus (“oldish; old man”), a familiar diminutive of vetus (“old, former”); the form “veclus” is condemned as incorrect in the “Appendix Probi”.[2][5][1][6] “Vetus” itself gave Old French viez (“old, worn”), used mostly of things until the 14th and 15th centuries, while “vieux” was said almost only of people.[5][2][3]

Rey traces “vetus” to an Indo-European root “*wet-” “year”, seen in Ancient Greek ἔτος (étos, “year”) and in Latin vitulus (“calf”); the sense “old” may come from the contrast between the wine of last year and new wine.[2][7]

Cognate with Romanian vechi, Italian vecchio, Catalan vell, Spanish viejo and Portuguese velho.[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis as velz, of the world, “which has existed for a long time”; about 1100 the Chanson de Roland uses it of a person: Il est mult vielz, si ad sun tens uset.[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word spread from people to things: vieilles debtes (1357), vieulz loups and vieilles gens (1385), vins vielz (1421).[4][5] It came to mean “former, of an earlier time” (le vieil droit, 1480, vieil François, 1579, le bon vieux temps, 1547) and took a pejorative nuance (1464).[4] Sur ses vieux jours dates from 1612 and faire de vieux os from 1676.[4]

As a familiar form of address, mon vieux is recorded from 1790; in slang le vieux and les vieux mean one's father and one's parents.[8][1] Derivatives include vieillesse (1120), vieillard (1155), vieillir (1160) and vieillerie (1680).[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Velz in the Vie de saint Alexis.[4]
  • c. 1100 – Of a person, in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • c. 1155 – Feminine vieille.[2]
  • 1385 – Les vieilles gens in Eustache Deschamps.[4]
  • 1547 – Le bon vieux temps in Noël du Fail.[4]
  • 1612 – Sur ses vieux jours.[4]
  • 1676 – Faire de vieux os.[4]
  • 1790 – Mon vieux as a form of address.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Old, aged: un vieil homme, devenir vieux.[4][1]
  2. Old, existing for a long time: une vieille maison, du vin vieux.[4]
  3. Long-standing: un vieil ami.[4][7]
  4. Former, of an earlier time: le vieux Paris, le bon vieux temps.[4]
  5. Old, worn, used: de vieux vêtements.[4][2]

Noun

  1. An old person: les vieux.[1][4]
  2. (familiar) Mon vieux, ma vieille: as a form of address, old chap.[8]
  3. (slang) One's father; in the plural, one's parents.[1]

Word family

  • vieillard
  • vieillerie
  • vieillesse
  • vieillir
  • vieillot
  • vétuste
  • vétéran
  • Latin vetus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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. ^ a b c d e 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, 360a
  7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Vieux.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/vieux. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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