French words first recorded in the 11th century

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cammīnus, first found as “camino” in a Spanish text before 680, a word of Celtic origin that survived in the Romance languages because Gaulish lived on longer in…

It is inherited from Old French cerchier, inherited from Late Latin circāre (“to go round, travel about to examine”) (4th century), which in Medieval Latin also meant “to search, scrutinise”; it is…

It is inherited from Old French cheval, inherited from Latin caballus (“pack horse, nag”). “Caballus” was a popular word, first for a poor horse or a gelding, then for a work horse; it spread…

It is inherited from Old French chen, inherited from Latin canis (“dog”), accusative “canem”. “Canis” replaced an older Indo-European stem in “-n”, as in Ancient Greek κύων (kúōn), with a vocalism…

It is inherited from Old French cinc, inherited from Vulgar Latin cīnque, a form found in inscriptions, in which the first /kw/ of classical Latin quīnque (“five”) was changed by dissimilation. The…

It is inherited from Old French cinquante, inherited from Vulgar Latin cīnquāgintā, a form found in inscriptions, from Classical Latin quīnquāgintā (“fifty”) by regressive dissimilation. The Latin…

It is inherited from Old French clef, inherited from Latin clāvis (“key; bolt, bar”). The Latin word is related to clāvus (“nail”) (see clou) and claudō (“to shut”) (see clore). Cognate with Italian…

It is borrowed from Latin columna (“pillar, column; support”), probably related to columen (“summit”) and to the verb behind exceller. Its form was influenced by Italian colonna. The Old French…

It is inherited from Old French cumbatre, inherited from Vulgar Latin *combattō, an alteration of Late Latin combattuō (“to fight with”) (6th century), formed from cum (“with”) and battuō (“to…

It is formed from Old French com + -ment, from Old French com (“how, as”), the older form of comme, and the adverbial suffix. “Com” continues Latin quōmodo (“in what way, how”), which had become…

It is inherited from Old French compaignon, the old oblique case, inherited from Late Latin companio (“companion”), through the accusative companiōnem; the old nominative compain survives in copain…

It is inherited from Old French conte, inherited from Late Latin computus (“calculation; reckoned amount; estimate”), from Latin computō (“to reckon”). The ⟨p⟩ was restored after the Latin in the…

It is inherited from Old French cunter, inherited from Latin computō (“to calculate, reckon; to include in a count”), from com- and putō (“to prune; to settle an account; to reckon, think”). In…

It is derived from comte with the suffix “-é”, compare Medieval Latin comitātus (“territory governed by a count”) (779), also “law court” (about 980), which may have served as the model. Its gender…

It is inherited from Old French confondre, borrowed from Latin cōnfundō (“to pour together, mix; to throw into disorder; to confuse”), from con- and fundō (“to pour”) (the source of fondre). In…

It is formed from the stem of the present participle of connaître with the suffix -ance. Wiktionary instead derives the Old French conoissance from Late Latin cognōscentia, from Latin cognōscēns…

It is borrowed from Latin contrārius (“opposite, facing; hostile; contradictory”), derived from contrā (“against”) (see contre). Compare Old Occitan contrari, Spanish contrario and Italian contrario.

It is inherited from Old French costé, inherited from Vulgar Latin *costātum, a derivative of costa (“rib; side”), the source of côte. The Vulgar Latin form is reconstructed from its Romance…

It is formed from coup (Old French colp, cop) with the verb ending -er, properly “to divide with a blow”. The noun “coup” is from popular Latin Vulgar Latin colpus (Salic Law), from Latin colaphus…

It is the present participle of courir, used as an adjective and a noun: from French courir + -ant. Wiktionary traces it, through Old French, to Latin currēns (“running”), from currō (“to run”). The…

It is inherited from Latin cursus (“running; journey, voyage; course of the stars, of a river, of life”), from currō (“to run”), the source of courir. Most of its French senses already existed in…

1. The adjective “short” is inherited from Old French curt, inherited from Latin curtus (“shortened, docked; incomplete, insufficient”). Rey traces “curtus” to the Indo-European root “*(s)ker-” “to…

1. The relative is inherited from Old French cosin, inherited from Latin cōnsobrīnus (“first cousin on the mother's side; first cousin”), through a shortened form *cosīnus, probably from children's…

It is inherited from Old French crachier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *craccō, formed on an imitative stem ⟨krakk-⟩ that is found in both Romance and Germanic. The same imitative stem is behind crac…

It is formed from French croix + -er (Old French crois), from Latin crux (“cross”), through its accusative. Compare Old Occitan crozar, Catalan crusar, Spanish cruzar, Portuguese cruzar and Italian…

It is inherited from Old French quir, inherited from Latin corium (“skin, hide; leather”). Rey and the Petit Robert relate the Latin word to an Indo-European root meaning “to cut”, the skin being…

It is inherited from Old French quisse, inherited from Latin coxa (“hip bone, hip; thigh”). The Latin word must originally have named a joint in general, since the corresponding words in other…

It is borrowed from Latin cūriōsus (“careful; eager to know; prying”), derived through a spoken form *cūrius from cūra (“care, concern”) (see cure), which could not directly have given this form…

It is derived from Old French escirer (“to tear, split”), still found in eastern dialects, with the prefix dé- substituted for ⟨es-⟩. The old verb comes from Frankish *skerian (“to separate…

It is inherited from Old French descovrir, inherited from Late Latin discooperiō (“to uncover”) (in the Vulgate), formed from dis- (“apart”) and Latin cooperiō (“to cover completely”), the source of…

It is inherited from Late Latin dē māne (“early in the morning”), literally “from the morning”, first found in the Vulgate. The phrase strengthens with dē the word māne (“morning; in the morning”)…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dimedius, found in glosses, a remaking after Latin medius (“middle”) of classical dīmidius (“halved, half”), from dis- (“apart”) and “medius”. From “medius” French…

It is inherited from Latin dēns (“tooth”) (accusative “dentem”), from the Indo-European word for “tooth” behind Sanskrit दन्त् (dánt), Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús), German Zahn, English tooth and…

It is from French dé- + ranger, formed as the opposite of arranger. The verb ranger comes from rang, from Frankish *hring (“circle, ring”).

It is inherited from Old French deriere, inherited from Late Latin dēretrō (“behind”), the welding of “dē retrō”, from dē, marking the point of departure, and retrō (“backwards, behind”). The…

The adjective is borrowed from Latin dēsertus (“abandoned; uncultivated, desert”), the past participle, used as an adjective, of dēserō (“to leave, abandon, desert”). That verb was at first a…

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēsertāre, formed on Latin dēsertus (“abandoned”), the past participle of Latin dēserere (“to abandon, forsake”), Medieval Latin used it for “to abandon (a country)…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ditus, a contraction of Latin digitus (“finger, toe; finger's breadth”). Old French “deie” “finger's breadth” comes from the neuter plural “*dita” with collective…

It is from Old French dam + -age, first damage, altered to domage probably under the influence of Old French dongier (see danger). dam continues Latin damnum (“loss, harm”); having more body, the…

It is inherited from Old French dormir, inherited from Latin dormiō (“to sleep”). Rey traces the Latin verb to a root “*der-” known only in extended forms in other Indo-European languages, as in…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin dossum, an altered form of Latin dorsum (“back, especially of an animal; ridge”). “Dorsum”, a popular word used by the slaves in Plautus, replaced the ordinary…

It is inherited from Latin dubitō (“to hesitate, waver, doubt; in Late Latin, to fear”), from dubius (“wavering, undecided”), from duo (“two”). Cognate with Spanish dudar, Portuguese duvidar…

It is inherited from Old French dulz, inherited from Latin dulcis (“sweet; pleasant, charming; dear”). Rey and the Petit Robert connect the Latin word with Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”)…

It is inherited from Old French doze, inherited from Vulgar Latin *dodeci, a contraction of Latin duodecim (“twelve”). The Latin numeral is formed from duo (“two”) and decem (“ten”), after the model…

It is inherited from Old French eschaper, inherited from Vulgar Latin *excappāre, formed with ex- on Late Latin cappa (“a kind of headdress; cloak”), properly “to throw off the cowl”, or else “to…

It is an alteration of Old French eschac (compare Medieval Latin scacus (“chessman”), 11th century), first the cry with which a player warned that his opponent's king was threatened; it comes…

It is inherited from Old French escrivain, inherited from Vulgar Latin *scrībānem, an accusative remade from Latin scrība (“clerk, scribe”), which comes from scrībō (“to write”), the source of…

It is a deverbal noun from French efforcer, Old French “esforcier”. The FEW classes it under popular Latin “*fortiare”, the source of forcer. Compare Old Occitan esfort, Catalan esforç, Spanish…

It is inherited from Old French embracier, formed in Old French from French en- + bras + -er. Bras is from Latin bracchium (“arm”). Cognate with Old Occitan embrassar and Italian imbracciare.

It is from French en- + mener (“to lead”), the prefix being the Old French adverb of place “en” “from there, away”. In Old French the adverb could still stand apart from the verb, as in “quant ele…

It is inherited from Old French empeechier, inherited from Late Latin impedicō (“to catch in a trap, shackle”), from in- and pedica (“fetter, snare for catching animals by the foot”), from pēs…

It is inherited from Latin indormīre (“to sleep on; to be careless”), which in Late Latin also meant “to go numb” (of a limb); the Latin verb is formed from in- and dormiō (“to sleep”) (see dormir)…

It is inherited from Old French enui, a back-formation from the verb enuier, modern ennuyer. The verb is from Late Latin inodiō (“to make hateful”), formed on the classical phrase in odio esse (“to…

It is inherited from Old French enoier, inherited from Late Latin inodiāre (“to be hateful”), formed on the classical phrase in odiō esse (“to be an object of hatred”), in which the second word is…

It is from French en- + terre + -er. Wiktionary instead traces it to Vulgar Latin *interrō (“to put into the earth”), from terra (“earth”). Cognate with Occitan enterrar, Spanish enterrar and…

It is inherited from Old French envaïr, inherited from Vulgar Latin *invādiō, an alteration of Latin invādō (“to go into; to assail, attack”). The Latin verb is formed from in- and vādō (“to go…

It is inherited from Old French espalle, inherited from Late Latin spathula (“spatula, (of animals) shoulder blade”), through Vulgar Latin *spatla. “Spathula”, properly a kind of spoon, means…

It is formed from French é- + prouver, with the intensive prefix “es-” from Latin ex-. “Prouver” comes from Latin probō (“to test; to approve; to prove”), and itself meant “to put to the test” until…

It is borrowed from Latin speciēs (“sight, look; appearance, aspect; type; particular case; category”). The sense “subdivision of a genus” renders Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) in the language of…

It is borrowed from Latin spīritus (“breath, air; life; soul; inspiration”), which came into French mainly through Christian religious texts, along with the Christian senses “disposition, intention…