French words first recorded in the 11th century

It is inherited from Old French peindre, inherited from Latin pingō (“to paint, colour; to embroider; to adorn; to depict”). Rey and the Petit Robert relate the Latin verb to the Indo-European root…

It is inherited from Old French percier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *pertūsiāre (“to bore through”), formed on “pertusum”, the supine of classical Latin pertundō (“to bore through”), from per…

It is formed from French pouvoir + être, from “peut”, the third person singular present of pouvoir, and the infinitive être. It is an ellipsis of Old French “puet cel estre” “that may be”. Old…

It is inherited from Old French place, inherited from Vulgar Latin *plattea, with a doubled “t” probably under the influence of *plattus (“flat”), from Latin platea (“broad street; public square”)…

It is the old infinitive inherited from Old French plaisir (“to please”), used as a noun, inherited from Latin placeō (“to please”). As an infinitive “plaisir” was replaced in the 13th century by…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *plattus, borrowed from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “broad, flat”). The Greek word belongs with Sanskrit पृथु (pṛthú, “broad”) to an Indo-European root for…

It is inherited from Old French pluie, inherited from Vulgar Latin *ploia, from *plovia, an alteration after *plovō (“to rain”) (see pleuvoir) of Latin pluvia (“rain”), the feminine used as a noun…

It is inherited from Old French peil, inherited from Latin pilus (“a hair; figuratively, a trifle”), which named a single hair, as opposed to the collective capillus (see cheveu), and with a…

It is inherited from Old French pome, inherited from Late Latin pōma, the neuter plural of classical pōmum (“fruit”) taken as a feminine singular with collective value; the same process gave pêche…

It is inherited from Latin pōns (“bridge; gangway”), accusative “pontem”. The Latin word belongs to an Indo-European family of words for a path or crossing, with Sanskrit पन्था (pánthāḥ, “path”) and…

It is inherited from Old French pot, inherited from Late Latin pottus, also written potus. Its origin is debated. The TLFi, Bloch and Wartburg and Rey trace it to a pre-Celtic stem *pott- “pot”…

It is borrowed from Latin praesentia (“presence; efficacy”), from praesēns (“present”) (see présent). Compare Old Occitan presensa, Spanish presencia and Italian presenza.

It is inherited from Old French proz, inherited from Late Latin *prōdis, an adjective formed on Late Latin prōde (“useful, profitable”), attested from the 4th century in “prode est”, a wrong…

It is borrowed from Latin prīncipālis (“original; chief, foremost; of the emperor”), from prīnceps (“first; chief; emperor”) (see prince). Old French also had a form principel.

It is inherited from Old French prisun, inherited from Latin prehēnsiōnem (“a seizing; arrest”), from prehendō (“to seize”) (see prendre). The word went through a contracted popular form…

It is inherited from Old French prucein, inherited from Vulgar Latin *propeānus, from prope (“near, close by; almost”). Bloch and Wartburg justify the reconstruction by Sardinian probianu; Old…

It is inherited from Old French parfunt, inherited from Latin profundus (“deep; dense; boundless”) with a change of prefix, remade under the influence of the Latin word, “profundus” is formed from…

It is inherited from Old French prover, inherited from Latin probō (“to test, try; to approve; to make credible, prove”), from probus (“good, upright”). The Latin verb spread to most of the Romance…

It is an old present participle of pouvoir, formed on the stems of the verb in pois-, puis- (compare the subjunctive “qu’il puisse”), first poissant and then remade after the forms in puis-; the…

It is inherited from Latin quārtus (“fourth”), from quattuor (“four”) (see quatre). Rey treats the adjective as borrowed, and the noun either as the adjective used as a noun or as a direct borrowing…

It is from French quart + -ier. Medieval Latin had “quarterium” “a quarter of a town” (1117). Littré derived it from Latin quartārius (“a quarter measure”), from quartus (“fourth”) (see quart)…

It is formed from French quel + que. Old French first used “quel” followed by a noun and the relative “que” to introduce a concessive clause (“quel jagunce que”, about 1100); “quel que” was then…

It is inherited from Old French quinze, inherited from Latin quīndecim (“fifteen”), a compound of quīnque (“five”) (see cinq) and decem (“ten”) (see dix); Littré notes that the stress was on the…

It is formed from allier (“to unite”) with the prefix re-, after the sense of “allier” “to unite (by a treaty)”. “Allier” is inherited from Latin alligō (“to bind to”), from ligō (“to bind”)…

It is formed from French re- + amener. Amener is built on mener, from Vulgar Latin minō (“to drive (animals)”), from minor (“to threaten”).

It is inherited from Old French renc, from Frankish *hring (“ring, circle”), from Proto-Germanic *hringaz, the source of German Ring and English ring. The Frankish word must have meant an assembly…

It is from French re- + appeler. “Appeler” is inherited from Latin appellō (“to address, call”). The noun rappel is derived from it (1260).

It is borrowed from Latin reclāmō (“to cry out against, protest; to call repeatedly”), from re- and clāmō (“to cry, call out”). The Latin verb was used especially in legal language. The accent of…

It is from French re- + commencer. The verb commencer comes from Vulgar Latin *comīnitiō, a strengthened form of Latin initiō (“to initiate; in Late Latin, to begin”). Compare Old Occitan recomensar…

It is from French re- + dresser (“to raise, set up straight”), formed in Old French as redrecier. The base verb continues Vulgar Latin *directiō, from dīrēctus (“straight”), the participle of…

It is inherited from Old French reïne, inherited from Latin rēgīna (“queen”), the feminine of Latin rēx (“king”) (see roi). The modern pronunciation comes from the West. Middle French also had the…

It is inherited from Latin relevō (“to lift up; to relieve, ease”), from re- and levō (“to lighten, raise”). The Grand Robert analyses it as from French re- + lever, and Rey thinks both a French…

It is inherited from Old French remetre, inherited from Latin remittō (“to send back; to slacken; to give up, remit”), formed from re- and mittō (“to send, let go”). The Latin verb also meant “to…

It is formed from French re- + muer. The simple verb continues Latin mūtō (“to change”), and in the Middle Ages still had the general sense “to change”. Littré takes the first sense to be “to change…

It is a deverbal noun from French reposer (“to rest”). The verb, Old French reposer, continues Late Latin repausō, from pausō (“to halt, cease”). Cognate with Catalan repòs, Italian riposo, Spanish…

It is formed from French re- + sembler. It was made on the original meaning of sembler, “to be like”, which the simple verb had from Late Latin similō (“to be like”) (from similis (“like”)) and kept…

It is a deverbal noun from French retourner (“to return”). The verb is formed on tourner, from Latin tornō (“to turn on a lathe”). Littré analyses it as re- and tour. Cognate with Old Occitan…

It is formed from French re- + trouver in Old French. Bloch and Wartburg date it to the 12th century. The base trouver probably comes from a popular Latin “*tropāre” “to compose a melody”, from…

It is inherited from Old French rire, inherited from Vulgar Latin *rīdere, a popular form with short ⟨e⟩ of classical inherited from Latin rīdeō (“to laugh; to smile; to mock”). The Latin verb was…

It is inherited from Old French reiame, altered by crossing with royal; reiame was understood as a derivative of Latin rēx (“king”), but is in fact inherited from Latin regimen (“direction…

It is borrowed from Old High German *sazjan (“to set, establish”), according to the TLFi, the FEW and Bloch and Wartburg; the word is found about 700 in the Latin of the Germanic law codes as…

It is borrowed from Frankish *sal (“dwelling, hall”), a masculine that became feminine, as “sala” in the laws of the Germanic peoples shows. The GLLF starts from Late Latin sala (early 8th century)…

It is inherited from Old French samedi, a reduced form of sambedi, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sambatī diēs (“day of the Sabbath”). The Latin phrase joins diēs (“day”) and the genitive of…

It is inherited from Old French seel, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sigellum, an alteration of classical Latin sigillum (“statuette; impression of a seal; seal”), a diminutive of signum (“mark…

It is inherited from Old French socors, inherited from Vulgar Latin succursum, a noun made from the supine of Latin succurrō (“to run to help”), itself formed with sub- and currō (“to run”). The…

It is inherited from Old French sulunc, probably from popular Latin inherited from Vulgar Latin *sublongum (“along”), from sub (“under; close to”) and longum (see long); Old French “lonc” itself…

It is inherited from Old French sembler, inherited from Late Latin similō (“to be like; to seem”), from similis (“like, similar”). Latin “similis” goes back to the Indo-European root…

1. The word for sense and meaning is borrowed from Latin sēnsus (“perception; feeling; way of thinking; idea; meaning”), the action noun of sentiō (“to perceive, feel”). It absorbed Old French sen…

It is inherited from Old French siege, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sedicum or “*sedica”, which supposes a verb *sedicō formed from Latin sedeō (“to sit”), the source of seoir. Bloch and Wartburg…

It is inherited from Old French seignier, remade after signe, inherited from Latin signō (“to mark with a sign; to seal; to designate”), from signum (“sign, mark”). Rabelais (1534) still wrote “se…

It is borrowed from Latin significō (“to show by signs; to make known; to portend; to mean”), formed from signum (“mark, sign”) (see signe) and faciō (“to make”). Rey says the successive forms are…

It is inherited from Old French sis, inherited from Latin sex (“six”). Wiktionary traces the Latin numeral to Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs. Rey compares Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃 (saihs)…

It is inherited from Old French suer, inherited from Latin soror (“sister; cousin”). Old French had the nominative “suer” from “soror” and the oblique “seror” from the accusative “sorōrem”…

The origin is uncertain. It is probably borrowed from Frankish *sunni (“care, worry, grief”), through Late Latin sonium (“care”) (5th century), as the Grand Robert, the GLLF and the Petit Robert…

It is inherited from Old French songier, inherited from Latin somniō (“to dream; to see in a dream”), from somnium (“dream”). In Old French some forms of the verb were close to those of soignier…

It is inherited from Old French sudein, inherited from Late Latin subitānus (5th century), an alteration of subitāneus (“sudden”), from subitus (“sudden”). The same Latin adjective gave the learned…

It is inherited from Old French sovenir, inherited from Latin subveniō (“to come up; to come to mind”), from sub (“under”) and veniō (“to come”). Latin “subvenīre” meant “to come up unexpectedly”…

It is inherited from Old French seür, inherited from Latin sēcūrus (“free from care; safe”), formed from the archaic particle sē- (“without”) and cūra (“care, worry”), the source of cure. The…

It is from French sûr + -ment, from the feminine of the adjective with the adverbial suffix. Compare Old Occitan segurament, Spanish seguramente and Italian sicuramente.

It is from French sur- + vivre, compare Latin supervīvō (“to outlive”). Wiktionary takes it as inherited from the Latin verb. Compare Spanish sobrevivir, Portuguese sobreviver and Italian…