French words first recorded in the 11th century

It is inherited from Old French a, inherited from Latin ah (“ah!”), an expressive word. Latin “ah” (or “a”) is found from Plautus onward, both for strong feelings and to add force to a sentence; the…

It continues Old French ensi, einsi, of complex origin. The second element is “si”, from Latin sīc (“thus”); the first is uncertain. Bloch and Wartburg, followed by the GLLF, explain “einsi” as a…

It is inherited from Old French amistié, inherited from Vulgar Latin *amīcitās (“friendship”), an alteration of classical Latin amīcitia, derived from amīcus (“friend”) (see ami). The late…

It continues inherited from Latin annus (“year; annual harvest”). Rey describes the Latin word as apparently native to Italy, close to Oscan akenei (“in the year”), Wiktionary traces it to…

It is inherited from Old French ariver, inherited from Vulgar Latin *arripāre (“to reach the shore”), from “ad-” and Latin rīpa (“bank, shore”) (see rive); the Petit Robert records “arripare” in…

It is inherited from Old French avoc, inherited from Vulgar Latin *apud hoque, from apud (“at, near, with”) and hoc (“this”). Littré supported this origin by the Old French parallels “peroec” “for…

It is inherited from Old French batre, inherited from Late Latin battō, from earlier Latin battuō (“to beat, pound”). The Latin word is rare in texts, Plautus uses it for striking someone in the…

It is inherited from Latin carō (“flesh; meat”), accusative “carnem”. The Latin word belongs to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”) and must first have meant a piece of…

It is inherited from Old French chambre, inherited from Latin camera (“vaulted roof; room”), borrowed from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára, “vault; covered place”), a technical word of obscure origin…

1. The verb is inherited from Vulgar Latin consiliō, a form attested in the Salic law in the sense “to ask advice”, beside the classical deponent Latin cōnsilior (“to deliberate; to give advice”)…

It is inherited from Old French covenir, inherited from Latin conveniō (“to come together; to agree; to suit”), from com- and veniō (“to come”) (see venir). Bloch and Wartburg think the sense “to be…

It is inherited from Old French uncore, probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *hinc ad hōram (“from here to the hour”) or *hinc hāc hōrā. The older forms uncore and oncore are due to the influence of…

It is inherited from Latin famēs (“hunger; violent desire”). Rey notes that “famēs” has no correspondent outside Latin, the words for hunger and thirst varying from one Indo-European language to…

It is taken from dehors, from Late Latin dēforīs (“from outside”), from Latin forīs (“outside, out of doors”). Between vowels the “f” of “deforis” regularly disappeared, giving “deors”, which took…

It is from French malheur + -eux, or mal- with heureux, as Littré and Wiktionary analyse it. malheur is mal and the old noun heur (“luck”), which continues Vulgar Latin *agūrium, an altered form of…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *falliō, a remaking of classical Latin fallō (“to deceive; to escape”), from which came the senses “to be lacking” and “to commit a fault”. The Latin verb is of…

It is inherited from Old French ailurs, probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *aliōre, with the adverbial “-s” added to an earlier “ailleur”. “*Aliōre” would be a comparative of Latin alius…

It is inherited from Old French anciien, inherited from Late Latin anteānus (7th–8th century), from ante (“before”). Bloch and Wartburg note that the three-syllable form is not the regular outcome…

It is inherited from Old French atente, inherited from Vulgar Latin *attendita, the feminine of a past participle of attendō (“to stretch towards, pay attention to”) that replaced classical attenta…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *adventūra (“things that are to happen”), a neuter plural taken as a feminine singular noun, from the future participle of adveniō (“to arrive, happen”) (see…

It is inherited from Old French avogle, inherited from Late Latin *ab oculīs (“without eyes”), from oculus (“eye”), a phrase that Bloch and Wartburg think was coined in medical Latin and passed into…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *bancus, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench”). The Late Latin word is attested indirectly by its derivative bancalis “cushion to sit on” (6th–9th…

It is inherited from Old French barbe, inherited from Latin barba (“beard”). The Latin word goes back to earlier *farba, Proto-Italic *farðā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂ (“beard”). Rey's…

It is inherited from Old French besoing, inherited from Frankish *bisunni (“care”), a neuter beside the feminine Frankish *bisunnia that gave besogne. The Frankish word was formed with the prefix…

It is inherited from Old French blasmer, inherited from Vulgar Latin *blastēmō (“to reproach”), an altered form of Ecclesiastical Latin blasphēmō (“to blaspheme; to revile”), from Ancient Greek…

It is inherited from Old French boche, inherited from Latin bucca (“puffed-out cheek, (plural) cheeks, jaws”). Popular Latin already used it for the mouth, as Cicero shows, and it replaced classical…

It is inherited from Old French brief, inherited from Latin brevis (“short, in space or time”). The ancients already compared the Latin word with Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short”), but Rey…

It continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *certās, the feminine accusative plural of Latin certus (“fixed, sure”) used as an adverb, which replaced classical certō (“certainly”). Bloch and Wartburg…

It is inherited from Latin cessō (“to delay, loiter; to stop, be idle”), the frequentative of cēdō (“to go away, withdraw; to yield”) (whence céder). Bloch and Wartburg explain the sense “to cease”…

It is inherited from Old French chascun, inherited from Vulgar Latin *cascūnus, a cross between quisque (“each”) with “ūnus” “one” and “*catūnum”, a contraction of “(ūnum) cata ūnum” “one by one”…

It is inherited from Old French chape, inherited from Late Latin cappa (“hood; hooded cloak”), recorded in Gregory of Tours (6th century) and in Isidore (7th century), which came to mean a monk's…

It is inherited from Old French chevel, inherited from Latin capillus (“hair of the head; the hair”). The Latin word, which first meant the whole head of hair, has no certain etymology; links with…

It is inherited from Old French coisir (“to make out, see distinctly”), borrowed from Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kausjan, “to taste, examine; to test”), like Old Occitan causir (about 1070). Bloch and Wartburg…

It is inherited from Old French cler, inherited from Latin clārus (“bright; loud; clear, evident; illustrious”). Rey relates “clarus” to Latin calō (“to call”) and Latin clāmō (“to cry out”) (see…

It is inherited from Old French cuer, inherited from Latin cor (“heart”), declined in popular Latin as “*coris” instead of classical “cordis”, Wiktionary gives the accusative *corem. Like Ancient…

It is either derived with “-ie” from Old French compain (“companion”) (see compagnon, copain), or a remaking of Old French “compaigne” (about 1050), from Vulgar Latin *compānia, from Late Latin…

It is inherited from Old French conoistre, inherited from Latin cognōscō (“to get to know; to recognize; to have carnal knowledge of”), which in part of the Romance area became “conoscere” under the…

The TLFi and Rey treat it as borrowed from Latin contineō (“to hold together; to contain; to restrain”), formed from com- and teneō (“to hold”), conjugated like tenir. Bloch and Wartburg see it as…

It is inherited from Old French colcer, inherited from Latin collocō (“to place, set in position”), from com- and locō (“to place”). In Latin “collocāre” was already used of placing something…

It is inherited from Old French color, inherited from Latin color (“colour; complexion; outward appearance; specious argument”), from the accusative “colōrem”. Rey and the Petit Robert connect the…

It is inherited from Old French corage, formed from Old French cuer + -age, from cur or cor, old forms of cœur. Wiktionary and Littré trace it to Vulgar Latin *corāticum, from Latin cor (“heart”)…

It is inherited from Old French curre, inherited from Latin currō (“to run”), with a change of conjugation to “-ir”. The older “courre” kept the Latin stress, and the future “je courrai” still comes…

It is inherited from Latin domina (“mistress of the house; wife; mistress; sovereign”), contracted to domna by the 1st century, the feminine of dominus (“master”), from domus (“house”). The vowel…

It is formed from French dé- + battre, with the intensive prefix, the verb being from Latin battuō (“to beat”). Littré gives the original sense as “to beat this way and that”, kept only in the…

It is from Old French de + denz, the older form of dans. The Old French adverb continues Late Latin deintus (“within, inside”), from dē (“from”) and intus (“within”). Compare Picard dedins, Walloon…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *demorare, for classical dēmoror (“to delay, linger; to hold back”), from dē- and moror (“to delay”), from mora (“delay”) (see moratoire). The TLFi and Rey describe…

It is inherited from Latin dēsīderō (“to miss, feel the lack of; to long for”), reduced in sound. The Latin verb is formed with the privative dē- on sīdus (“star, constellation”) (whence sidéral)…

It is inherited from Old French destruire, from popular Latin inherited from Vulgar Latin *dēstrūgō, a remaking of classical dēstruō (“to pull down; to destroy”) on its perfect “dēstrūxī” and its…

It is inherited from Old French dis, inherited from Latin decem (“ten”). The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥, also the source of Ancient Greek δέκα (déka), German zehn and English…

It is inherited from Old French dolor, inherited from Latin dolor (“physical or mental pain”) (accusative “dolōrem”), from doleō (“to suffer, feel pain”), which also gave Old French doloir “to…

It is a noun formed from the verb douter. “Douter” is inherited from Latin dubitō (“to hesitate, be uncertain”), derived from dubius (“wavering”), from duo (“two”); in Late Latin it also meant “to…

It is inherited from Old French drecier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *dīrēctiō (“to straighten, set upright”), derived from dīrēctus (“straight”) (see direct and droit). The same Latin verb gave…

It is inherited from Latin dūrō (“to last; to endure; to harden”). The Grand Robert and Littré derive the Latin verb from dūrus (“hard”) (see dur); Rey and Bloch and Wartburg think that “dūrāre” “to…

It is inherited from Old French ewe, inherited from Latin aqua (“water”). Latin “aqua”, water as an element, as opposed to unda (“moving water, wave”), goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂…

It is borrowed from Latin schola (“leisure for study; lesson; school”), from Ancient Greek σχολή (skholḗ, “leisure; study”). The Greek word meant leisure, then the study done at leisure (Plato), and…

It is inherited from Old French escrire, inherited from Latin scrībō (“to trace characters; to write; to compose”). The form “escrivre” gave way to “escrire” in the 13th century under the influence…

It is inherited from Old French eglise, inherited from Vulgar Latin eclesia, a frequent popular form of Christian Latin ecclēsia, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “assembly of…

It is an interjection of onomatopoeic origin.

It is from French é- + loin + -er, from the prefix “es-” (Latin ex-) and loin. Wiktionary also mentions a popular Latin “*exlongāre”. “Loin” is from Latin longē (“far”). Compare Old Occitan…

It is an early borrowing, borrowed from Latin imperium (“command; supreme power; empire”), derived from imperō (“to command”), the verb behind empereur. Wiktionary treats it as inherited through Old…