Etymologically
Log in

village

Etymology and origin of the French word village

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1385, Eustache Deschamps (villaige)
Ultimate origin
Latin (villa)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin villa
English villa
English villain
French ville
French village

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /vi.laʒ/[1]

Forms

village m (plural villages)[1] Medieval Latin villagium in 1235, villaige (1385), village (about 1390, Froissart).[2][3]

Etymology

It is from French ville + -age, from Old and Middle French “vil(l)e” in its old sense “farm, rural estate”, from Latin villa (“country house, farm”).[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary and Littré derive it from Medieval Latin villāticum.[1][6] Old and Middle French had other derivatives of “ville” in the same sense, such as “vilel” and “vilele”.[3]

Compare Old Occitan vilatge and Italian villaggio, which Meyer-Lübke takes from Occitan.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as villaige in Eustache Deschamps' Miroir de mariage (1385), and as village in Froissart's chronicles (about 1390), for a group of rural dwellings.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

A village is large enough to have a life of its own, unlike a hamlet.[3][8] About 1360 it was also used for the villagers themselves, a sense that disappeared, though le village still means all its inhabitants (1694).[3][4] Figurative phrases include être bien de son village “to be naive” (1611) and coq de village (1549).[4][3] In African French village names any farming settlement, even a large one, and one's village is one's origin; in Louisiana it means any town other than New Orleans.[3][1] The derivative villageois dates from about 1500.[3]

Timeline

  • 1235 – Medieval Latin villagium.[2]
  • 1385 – Villaige, Eustache Deschamps.[2]
  • c. 1390 – Village, Froissart.[2]
  • c. 1500 – Villageois.[3]
  • 1611 – Être bien de son village, Cotgrave.[4]
  • 1694 – “The inhabitants of a village”.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A village: un petit village de montagne, l'église du village.[8][1]
  2. The inhabitants of a village: tout le village est en émoi.[9][4]
  3. A holiday or leisure complex: village de vacances, village de toile.[9]
  4. (Louisiana) A town.[1][3]
  5. L'idiot du village: the village idiot.[4][1]

Word family

  • villageois

References

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

“Village.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/village. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·