French words first recorded in the 10th century

It is inherited from Latin pānis (“bread; lump, loaf, (Church Latin) food”), from its accusative “pānem”. Rey notes that the diminutive pāstillus (see pastille) suggests an older “*pasn-”, recalling…

It is inherited from Old French pais, inherited from Latin pāx (“peace”) (genitive “pācis”). Bloch and Wartburg explain the Old French form as remade on the verb apaiser, replacing the regular…

It is inherited from Old French pareistre, inherited from Late Latin pārēscō (“to appear”), a rare Late Latin word (5th–8th centuries), the inchoative of pāreō (“to appear; to obey”). In classical…

It is inherited from Old French pardoner, inherited from Late Latin perdōnō (“to grant, concede (life, a favour)”), recorded only once, in the “Aesop” of Romulus (between 350 and 500). The Late…

It is inherited from Latin parēns (“father or mother, (plural) parents”), through its accusative “parentem”. The Latin word, a noble literary substitute for “pater” and “mater”, is the present…

It is inherited from Old French partir, inherited from Latin partiō (“to divide, share”), the popular form of classical partior, from pars (“part”). It first meant “to divide, share out”; the sense…

It is from French par + tout, in their old forms “per” and “tot”. Wiktionary compares Catalan pertot, and the different constructions Italian dappertutto and Spanish “por todas partes”.

It is inherited from Old French païs, inherited from Medieval Latin pāgēnsis (“inhabitant of a district”), a word of Gregory of Tours, derived from Latin pāgus (“village, canton, district”). The…

It is inherited from Old French pechié, inherited from Latin peccātum (“fault, error, (Christian Latin) sin”), the neuter past participle of peccō (“to stumble; to err; to sin”) used as a noun. The…

It is inherited from Old French pendre, inherited from Vulgar Latin *pendĕre, from classical Latin pendēre (“to hang, be suspended”), with a change of conjugation after the related transitive verb…

It is a learned form borrowed from Latin pēnsō (“to weigh; to appraise, ponder”), which probably took the sense “to think” in Late Latin; it is the frequentative of pendō (“to weigh”). The sense “to…

It is inherited from Old French pedre, inherited from Latin pater (“father; founder; old man”) (accusative “patrem”), from Proto-Italic *patēr, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr. In Latin “pater”…

It is borrowed from Latin permittō (“to let go; to entrust; to allow”), adapted after mettre. The Latin verb is formed from per- and mittō (“to send, let go”); it meant first “to send towards a…

It is inherited from Old French piece, inherited from Medieval Latin petia (“piece of land; small piece of beaten gold”), recorded from about 730; this is from Gaulish *pettia, restored after Welsh…

1. The udder is inherited from Old French piz, inherited from Latin pectus (“breast, chest; heart”). Littré notes that it is one of the few nouns that kept in Old French the final ⟨-s⟩ of the Latin…

It is inherited from Old French porte, inherited from Latin porta (“gate”). The Latin word meant first “passage”, then the gate under a city wall, as opposed to forēs, the door of a house; that…

1. “To carry” is inherited from Old French porter, inherited from Latin portō (“to carry, convey; to bring into port”), related to Latin porta (“gate”) and Latin portus (“harbour”) (see porte and…

It is inherited from Old French poser, inherited from Vulgar Latin pausō (“to cease, stop”), derived from pausa (“pause”) (see pause), from Greek: from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, “I stop, cease”), of…

It is inherited from Latin prīmārius (“of the first rank”), a derivative of Latin prīmus (“first”), which survived in Old French as “prin”, still used around Lyon for “fine, thin” (see prime…

It is from French puis + que, from the use of “puis” as a preposition in Old French. The sense shifted from time (“after”) to cause, as Paul Imbs showed. “Puis” itself is from popular Latin Vulgar…

It is inherited from Latin pūrus (“spotless, unstained; clean, clear; unmixed”). The Latin word belonged above all to religious language, like its Greek counterpart Ancient Greek καθαρός (katharós)…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin quattor, found in inscriptions, a reduced form of classical Latin quattuor (“four”). The Indo-European numerals one to four were declined, “quattuor” became…

It is inherited from Old French receivre, inherited from Latin recipiō (“to take back; to accept, welcome”), from re- and capiō (“to take, seize”). The modern infinitive replaced the regular…

It is inherited from Old French reconoistre, inherited from Latin recognōscō (“to recall; to review, inspect; to revise”), which developed in parallel with the simple verb connaître. It is formed…

It is a noun formed from the verb regarder. That verb is from French re- + garder, and “garder” goes back to Frankish *wardōn (“to watch, guard”). Compare Occitan regart and Italian riguardo.

It is borrowed from Latin restaurō (“to rebuild, repair; to resume, renew”), first as “restaurar” and then in the more French form restorer; the ⟨au⟩ was later restored after the Latin spelling. Rey…

It is formed from French re- + voir, from the earliest Old French, Littré and Wiktionary allow that it may also continue Latin revideō (“to see again”). “Voir” itself continues Latin videō (“to…

It is inherited from Old French rompre, inherited from Latin rumpō (“to break, burst”), used in Latin of physical breaking as well as of breaking off. The nasal infix of the Latin present stem is…

It is inherited from Latin sanctus (“made sacred, inviolable; holy”), the past participle of sanciō (“to make sacred; to ratify”) (see sanction). In Christian Latin “sanctus” took on the sense of…

It is inherited from Old French saluer, inherited from Latin salūtō (“to greet; to pay one's respects; to visit”), properly “to wish someone health (salus)”, for example when he sneezes; it is…

It is inherited from Old French sanc, inherited from Latin sanguen, a neuter form, common in classical Latin, of sanguis (“blood”), through the popular accusative “sanguem”. Latin “sanguis” was…

It is inherited from Old French santé, inherited from Latin sānitās (“health of body and mind”) (accusative sānitātem), from sānus (“healthy”), the source of sain. The Latin word had also been taken…

It is inherited from Latin salvus (“whole, intact; in good health”), which in Church Latin took the moral sense “saved (from evil, by the Saviour)”. Rey relates “salvus” to salūs (see salut) and…

It is inherited from Old French set, inherited from Latin septem (“seven”). The ⟨p⟩ is an etymological spelling and has never been pronounced. The Latin word has exact counterparts in Ancient Greek…

It is inherited from Old French sol, inherited from Latin sōlus (“alone, only; solitary, deserted”), a word of unknown origin. Littré compared Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “whole”) and Latin salvus…

It is inherited from Old French seir, inherited from Latin sērō (“late, too late”), an adverb formed from sērus (“late”). Old Occitan had both ser (about 1135), from “sērō”, and “sera” (about 1160)…

It is inherited from Old French soleil, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sōliculus, a diminutive of Latin sōl (“sun”). Latin “sōl” belongs to an Indo-European family with an “l”/“n” alternation in its…

It is inherited from Old French soner, inherited from Latin sonō (“to sound, resound; to utter; to mean”), from sonus (“sound”) (see son). Cognate with Romanian suna, Italian sonare, Occitan sonar…

It is inherited from Latin sors (“lot; drawing of lots; oracle; destiny; share”), through its accusative; the Latin word named a small wooden tablet used to answer questions put to oracles or to…

It is formed from French sous- + lever, on the model of Latin sublevō (“to lift up, raise”), from sub- and levō (“to raise”). Compare Occitan solevar, Spanish solevar and Italian sollevare.

It is inherited from Old French suspirer, inherited from Latin suspīrō (“to breathe deeply, sigh; to say with a sigh”). The Old French form was altered after other words beginning with ⟨sou-⟩. The…

It is inherited from Old French sivre, earlier “segre”, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sequere, a variant of the classical deponent Latin sequī (“to follow”). Bloch and Wartburg explain “suivre” from…

It is inherited from Old French taire, inherited from Latin taceō (“to be silent; to say nothing of”): by 980 the infinitive had been remade from taisir, the regular outcome of the Latin verb. The…

It is inherited from Old French te, inherited from Latin tē (“you”), the accusative of “tū”, in unstressed position; the stressed form of the same Latin word is toi. Wiktionary traces it to…

It is inherited from Old French tens, inherited from Latin tempus (“time; period, moment; the right moment; weather”) (genitive “temporis”). Latin “tempus” was a portion of time, as opposed to…

1. The verb is inherited from Latin tendō (“to stretch, spread; to set (traps); to make for; to aim at; to pitch a tent”). Cognate with Italian tendere, Old Occitan tendre and Spanish tender. 2. The…

It is inherited from Latin tuus (“your, yours (of one person)”), through its accusative “tuum”, a possessive formed from tū (“you”). The Old French forms “tuen” and “toen” were remodelled as “tien”…

1. The possessive is inherited from Old French ton, from the unstressed Vulgar Latin forms of Latin tuus (“your, thy”) (accusative “tuum”): “tus”, “tum”, contracted in proclitic position, which the…

It is inherited from Old French tort, inherited from Vulgar Latin tortum (“wrong”), the neuter of Latin tortus (“twisted”) used as a noun, the past participle of torqueō (“to twist”), properly “what…

It is inherited from Old French torner, inherited from Latin tornō (“to shape on a lathe; to round off”), derived from tornus (“lathe”) (see tour), borrowed from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos…

It continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *trādiō, a remaking of classical Latin trādō (“to hand over, deliver; to betray”) into a verb ending in ⟨-ir⟩, because the Latin verb did not pass easily…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *trāversō, an alteration of classical trānsversō (“to stir crosswise, (late) to cross from side to side”), from trānsversus (“crosswise”) (whence travers)…

It is inherited from Old French trente, inherited from Vulgar Latin *trinta, a contraction of Latin trīgintā (“thirty”), itself formed on trēs (“three”). Wiktionary traces the Latin numeral to…

It is borrowed from Latin trīstis (“sad, sorrowful; gloomy, stern; ill-omened”), which about 1130 refashioned the inherited Old French trist. “Trist” came from late Latin “tristus”, altered under…

It is inherited from Old French treis, inherited from Latin trēs (“three”). Old French also had an analogical subject form “trei” and the form “troie”, from tria, the neuter plural, used for “the…

It is inherited from Old French trover, probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *tropāre, a derivative of Latin tropus (“figure of speech”), from Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “turn, manner”). The form…

It is borrowed from Latin vēritās (“truth; reality; uprightness”), from vērus (“true”), the source of vrai. This early learned form lived beside forms that came down orally, vertet (980) and verté…

It is inherited from Old French vestement, inherited from Latin vestīmentum (“garment, clothing”), from vestis (“garment”) (see veste). Rey, the Grand Robert and Bloch and Wartburg describe it as a…

It is inherited from Old French vie, inherited from Latin vīta (“life; way of life; livelihood; biography”). “Vīta” comes from an older “*vivita”, derived from vīvō (“to live”), and Wiktionary…

It is borrowed from Latin virgō (“maiden, virgin”), taken through Church Latin (accusative “virginem”), a word with no known Indo-European counterpart. In imperial Latin “virgo” was also an…