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Etymology and origin of the French word voile

voile1 veil

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1170 Béroul, Tristan
Inherited from
Latin velum via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin vēlum
Etymology tree of voile1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vēlum
French voile
Italian velo
English velum
From the same root · voile1
Latin vēlō ← vēlum
Latin vēxillum ← vēlum

Pronunciation

Forms

voile m (plural voiles)[1] Old French vol (1167) and voil (late 12th century); the spelling voile is found about 1460, in Villon.[2][3]

Etymology

The word for the veil is inherited from Old French voil, inherited from Latin vēlum (“veil, cloth, awning, curtain”).[4][5][2][6] The Latin word was used for a hanging cloth, a theatre awning and a covering that hides something from view, literally and figuratively.[2] The same Latin word also meant a ship's sail;[2] Rey leaves open whether the two are one word, from a root meaning “to weave”, or two, one related to vestis (“garment”) and the other to vehō (“to carry”).[2]

Cognate with Italian velo, Spanish velo, Portuguese véu, Occitan vel and Catalan vel.[7][8][9] The English word voile “thin dress fabric” (1882) was borrowed from it.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Béroul's Tristan (about 1170) has voil for a piece of cloth covering part of the body; about 1180 Gautier d'Arras uses vol for the cloth covering a nun's head.[4] The DHLF records vol in 1167, already with several senses.[2]

Semantic evolution

In religious use the nun's veil became the sign of her state, hence prendre le voile “to become a nun” (1571) and quitter le voile (1667).[4][2] The word was also used for a curtain (1193–1197) and for the veil of the Temple in Jerusalem (early 13th century); since 1622 it has also named the cloth covering the chalice at Mass.[4][2]

A figurative sense, something that changes the look of things, is found about 1200; from 1561 the word means a means of hiding the truth, and phrases followed, such as déchirer le voile (1679), jeter un voile sur (1730) and lever un coin du voile (1742).[4][2] From the 16th century it is also what dims or darkens, as of the night (1550) or of the eyes at death (1733).[4][2]

In 1721 Montesquieu uses it for the cloth with which Muslim women cover the face;[4][2] Rey notes voile islamique in the debates on veiled women in France.[4][2] By analogy the word passed into botany (1667, the veil of a fungus 1872), anatomy (voile du palais, 1784), photography (1876) and medicine, in voile au poumon.[4][2] A light, fine fabric like that of a nun's veil is called voile from 1723.[4][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1170 – Béroul uses voil for a cloth covering the body.[4]
  • c. 1180 – Used for a nun's veil.[4]
  • c. 1200 – First figurative use.[4]
  • c. 1460 – The spelling voile appears in Villon.[3][2]
  • 1571 – Ronsard writes prendre le voile.[4]
  • 1721 – Montesquieu uses it for the veil of Muslim women.[4]
  • 1723 – Used for a light fabric.[4]
  • 1784 – Voiles du palais appears in Diderot.[4]
  • 1876 – First used in photography.[4]
  • 1882 – English borrows voile for a dress fabric.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A piece of cloth that covers or hides something: le voile d'une statue.[4][7]
  2. A veil worn over the head or face; a nun's veil: prendre le voile “to become a nun”.[4][2]
  3. A light, fine fabric.[4][2]
  4. (figurative) Something that hides or disguises: lever le voile, jeter un voile sur.[2][4]
  5. (anatomy) Voile du palais: the soft palate.[4][2]
  6. (photography) fogging of a negative;[4][2] (medicine) voile au poumon, a shadow on the lung.[4][2]
  7. (botany) The veil of a mushroom.[4][2]

Word family

  • voiler
  • voilette
  • voilage
  • dévoiler

voile2 sail

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1155 Wace, Brut
Inherited from
Latin *vela via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin vēlum

Pronunciation

Forms

voile f (plural voiles)[1] Old French voille (about 1130), veille (about 1150) and voile (about 1175).[2]

Etymology

The word for the sail is inherited from Old French veile, inherited from Vulgar Latin *vēla, the plural of Latin vēlum (“sail”) taken as a feminine singular.[4][11][8][2][1] The Latin word also meant a ship by metonymy.[2] It had also given a masculine veil (about 1210) for the sail, which was given up because it sounded the same as the word for a veil.[2] The Grand Robert derives it from the masculine word instead.[6]

Cognate with Italian vela, Spanish vela, Portuguese vela, Occitan vela and Catalan vela.[7][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace's Brut (1155) has veilles for the pieces of strong cloth fixed to the yards of a ship's masts.[4]

Semantic evolution

By analogy of function the word was used for the canvas of a windmill's sails (1285), and by metonymy, as in Latin, for a sailing ship (1369).[2] The importance of sail before steam explains the many phrases, often figurative: a plainne voille (1204), later à pleines voiles “without holding back” (1559), faire voile “to sail” (1306, Joinville), mettre la voile au vent (1555) and mettre voile au vent “to run away” (1652).[4][2] Mettre les voiles “to clear off” is recorded about 1900, mettre toutes voiles dehors “to do everything to succeed” in 1830–1831, and avoir du vent dans les voiles “to be drunk” in 1835 (1916 in the TLFi).[4][2][3]

From 1797 la voile also means sailing; since the later 19th century it has been linked with sport, as in char à voile (1898, on the Belgian beaches) and faire de la voile in the 20th century.[2] The familiar à voile et à vapeur “bisexual” is a metaphor from sail and steam, recorded in the mid-20th century.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1130 – First record, as voille.[2]
  • 1155 – Wace uses veilles for a ship's sails.[4]
  • 1176 – Chrétien de Troyes writes la voile tendue.[4]
  • 1204 – A plainne voille appears in Guiot de Provins.[4]
  • 1285 – Used for the sails of a windmill.[2]
  • 1306 – Joinville writes faire voile.[4]
  • 1369 – Used for a ship.[2]
  • 1797 – Used for sailing.[2]
  • c. 1900 – Mettre les voiles “to leave” appears.[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sail.[4][7][1]
  2. (literary) A sailing ship: une flotte de cent voiles.[4][2]
  3. sailing, as a sport: faire de la voile.[4][2][1]
  4. Mettre les voiles (familiar): to clear off, to leave in a hurry.[4][2]
  5. Avoir du vent dans les voiles (familiar): to be drunk.[4][2]
  6. Toutes voiles dehors: with all sails set; figuratively, with every effort, or showily.[4]
  7. À voile et à vapeur (familiar): bisexual.[2]

Word family

  • voilier
  • voilure
  • voilerie

Usage notes

The gender keeps the two words apart: le voile “the veil”, la voile “the sail”.[7][4] A third, masculine voile (1933), formed from voiler “to buckle”, is a technical word for the buckling of a wheel.[2][6]

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 h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 224b
  6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 222b

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Voile.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/voile. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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