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vu

Etymology and origin of the French word vu

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
12th century
Inherited from
Old French veü
Ultimate origin
Latin (videō)

Pronunciation

Forms

vu (feminine vue, masculine plural vus, feminine plural vues); as a preposition invariable[1][2] Old French veü, written veu (12th century); vu from the 14th century.[3][4] The Académie wrote veu in 1694, vû in 1740 and vu from 1762.[5]

Etymology

It is the past participle of voir, inherited from Old French veü, earlier vedüt, perhaps from a Vulgar Latin *vidūtus that replaced classical Latin vīsus.[1][5] The verb continues videō (“to see”).[1] Cognate with Italian veduto and Romanian văzut.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective it is found from the 12th century for what is perceived by the eye and, from the same time, for what is understood.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The noun appears in the phrase au veü dou monde “in sight of the world” in the Ovide moralisé (1316–1328), and au veu et sceu de “seen and known by” in 1510.[5][4] In Middle French the participle became a preposition, “considering, in view of” (1480, Coquillart), and veyut que “seeing that” is recorded in Liège in 1421.[5][4] Furetière in 1690 records the legal uses: vu “having examined” before the documents of a case, and le vu, the list of documents produced.[5] Molière has bien vu “well thought of” in 1655,[3][4] c'est tout vu “that's settled” goes back to 1606,[4] and ni vu ni connu is found in 1783 and is quoted from Béranger before 1834.[6][3] Du déjà vu, something lacking novelty, dates from 1938.[4]

Timeline

  • 12th century – Veü, seen and understood.[3][4]
  • 1316–1328 – Au veü dou monde, in the Ovide moralisé.[5]
  • 1421 – Veyut que “seeing that”.[5]
  • 1480 – The preposition, in Coquillart.[5]
  • 1510 – Au veu et sceu de.[5]
  • 1655 – Bien vu, in Molière.[3]
  • 1690 – Legal uses recorded by Furetière.[5]
  • 1783 – Ni vu ni connu.[6]
  • 1938 – Du déjà vu.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Seen, perceived by the eye: un spectacle vu de loin, ni vu ni connu, without anyone knowing.[3][7]
  2. Understood: c'est bien vu ?, (familiar) bien vu !, a shrewd remark, c'est tout vu, the matter is settled.[7]
  3. Bien vu, mal vu: well or badly regarded: des employés bien vus de leur patron.[7]

Preposition

  1. Considering, given: vu les circonstances, il vaut mieux attendre.[7][2]
  2. (law) Having examined: vu la loi.[7]
  3. Vu que: since, seeing that.[7][2]

Noun

  1. Au vu et au su de tous: openly, in full view.[7][2]
  2. Au vu de, sur le vu de: on seeing, after examining.[7][2]
  3. Du déjà vu: something unoriginal.[2][7]

Word family

  • m'as-tu-vu
  • déjà-vu

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
  6. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Vu.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/vu. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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