French words first recorded in the 12th century

It is from Old French borde (“hut, small house”) + -el, a diminutive with the same sense, The base noun is from Frankish *borda (“hut of planks”), the neuter plural of *bord (“plank”) taken…

It is inherited from Old French chaudiere, inherited from Late Latin caldāria (“cauldron”), the plural, taken as a feminine singular, of calidārium (“hot bath; cauldron”), from calidārius…

It is formed from French couler + -oir, from the stem of couler “to strain; to flow; to slide”. That verb is from Latin cōlō (“to filter, strain”), from cōlum (“strainer”).

It is inherited from Old French foisil, inherited from Vulgar Latin *focīlis (“producing fire”), probably short for a phrase meaning “fire stone”, from Latin focus (“hearth, fire”); Isidore has a…

It is inherited from Old French denz, inherited from Late Latin deintus (“inside, within”), a compound of dē and intus (“from within; inside”). “Intus” is a derivative of in (whence en), and on its…

It is borrowed from Latin iuvenīlis (“youthful; lively; violent”), formed on the model of puerīlis (“childish”) from iuvenis (“young”), the source of jeune. Cognate with Occitan jovenil, Spanish…

It is borrowed from Latin māteria (“matter; materials; timber; subject”) (earlier māteriēs), a word that already had all the French senses. Bloch and Wartburg note that the form shows very early…

It is borrowed from Latin oboediō (“to listen to; to obey”), from ob- (“before”) and audiō (“to hear”) (see ouïr), with an obscure diphthong /oe/ where /u/ would be expected. Bloch and Wartburg say…

It is borrowed from Latin Ōceanus (“Ocean (god of the sea); the Atlantic”), from Ancient Greek Ὠκεανός (Ōkeanós), in Homer the mythical river flowing round the earth, then the outer sea bordering…

It is borrowed from Latin odor (“smell, scent (good or bad)”), according to the TLFi and Rey, Wiktionary has it inherited through Old French “odor”. The Latin word, also found as olor (compare…

It is inherited from Old French ofrir, inherited from Late Latin *offeriō, an altered form of classical Latin offerō (“to bring before, present, offer”), from ob- (“before”) and ferō (“to carry”)…

It is inherited from Old French prestre, the old nominative, inherited from Ecclesiastical Latin presbyter (“elder; priest”), from Ancient Greek πρεσβύτερος (presbúteros, “elder”), first used in the…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *rapīre, an alteration by change of conjugation of Latin rapere (“to carry off, seize by force; to plunder”). Rey compares the Latin verb with Lithuanian ap-repiu…

It is from French re- + faire. faire continues Latin faciō (“to make, do”). It matches Picard erfoère (“to redo; to dupe”), Walloon rifé, Old Occitan refar, Catalan refer, Spanish rehacer and…

It is Old French repast, formed with re- on past (“food; meal”) after the verb repaître. That noun continues Latin pāstus (“pasture, food of animals or of man”), from pāstum, the supine of pāscō…

1. It is inherited from Old French air, inherited from Latin āēr (“air”) (accusative “aerem”), from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr, “mist; air”). The traditional link of the Greek word with ἄημι (áēmi, “to…

It is borrowed from Latin auctōritās (“authority; credit, influence”), from auctor (“founder, guarantor; author”), the source of auteur. The Latin noun named the quality of an author in all the…

It is inherited from Old French bas, inherited from Late Latin bassus, known in classical Latin only as a surname (“Bassus”), then in Late Latin meaning “fat, stout” (early 6th century), “short” and…

It is inherited from Old French kalendier, inherited from Latin calendārium (“account book”), reshaped with an ⟨r⟩ inserted for no apparent phonetic reason. In classical Latin calendārium was a…

It is inherited from Old French chandeile, inherited from Latin candēla (“candle”), from Latin candēre (“to shine, glow”) (compare candeur, candide, incendie). In the 13th century the endings…

It is borrowed from Latin creō (“to create, produce, beget; to appoint”). The Latin word was at first a rustic term meaning “to make grow, produce”, from the same root as crēscō (“to grow”) (see…

It is inherited from Old French desus, inherited from Late Latin dēsūrsum (“from above”), a compound of dē and sūrsum (“up, upward”). “Dēsūrsum” was a word of popular Latin under the Empire…

It is borrowed from Latin dīversus (“turned in opposite directions; opposed; different”), the past participle used as an adjective of dīvertō (“to turn aside”) (see divertir). The Latin adjective…

It is inherited from Old French dolçor, inherited from Late Latin dulcor (“sweet taste”), derived from dulcis (“sweet”), and remade after the feminine douce of doux. Cognate with Picard doucheur…

It is formed from French en + fin, literally “in the end”, first written separately, “en fin”. The noun fin continues Latin fīnis (“end”).

It is the feminine past participle of entrer used as a noun. The verb is from Latin intrō (“to enter”). Compare Old Occitan intrada, Spanish entrada and Italian entrata.

It is inherited from Old French furnir, inherited from Frankish *frumjan (“to carry out, accomplish”). Compare Old High German frumman “to accomplish”, Old Saxon frummian and German frommen (“to be…

It is borrowed from Latin ūmor (“moisture; liquid; a bodily fluid”), derived from ūmeō (“to be moist”), the source of humide. It is a doublet of English humour, which English took from the Old…

It is borrowed from Latin idea (“idea, archetype (in Plato's sense)”), itself from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “form, look; kind; idea”). The Greek noun is from ἰδεῖν (ideîn, “to see”), which serves…

It is borrowed from Latin intentiō (“stretching; attention; purpose; intensity”), formed on the supine of intendō (“to stretch towards; to direct the mind”) (see entendre), itself from tendō (“to…

It is inherited from Old French jornal, inherited from Late Latin diurnālis (“of the day”), from diurnus (“of the day”), from diēs (“day”). The TLFi and Bloch–Wartburg treat it as a derivative of…

It is inherited from Late Latin lampada (“torch, lamp”), a Greek-type accusative taken as a feminine nominative, of Latin lampas (“torch”), borrowed from Ancient Greek λαμπάς (lampás, “torch; torch…

It is inherited from Old French luur, inherited from Late Latin lūcor (“brightness, brilliance”), the noun belonging to lūceō (“to shine”), from lūx (“light”). Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert…

It is borrowed from Latin luxuria (“exuberance, excess; luxury; debauchery”), a derivative of luxus (“excess; luxury”), the source of luxe. The Latin word first applied to the rank growth of plants…

It is the feminine used as a noun of the Old French adjective “manier” “worked by hand; skilful, well trained”, from Latin manuārius (“of the hand”), from manus (“hand”). Wiktionary allows a Vulgar…

It is from French mirer + -oir. Mirer is from popular Latin *mīrō (“to look at attentively”), classical Latin mīror (“to wonder at”). Littré distinguished the forms in ⟨-eor⟩ (like Old Occitan…

It is borrowed from Latin mōmentum (“movement, impulse; weight that tips a balance; influence; instant”), contracted from “*movimentum”, from moveō (“to move”) (see mouvoir). The Latin word meant…

It is borrowed from Latin nātūra (“birth; natural state of a thing; temperament, character; the course of things”), recorded in French from 1119. The Latin word is formed on nātus (“born”), from…

It is borrowed from Latin nātūrālis (“by birth; belonging to nature; innate”), from nātūra (“nature”) (see nature), from nāscor (“to be born”). Wiktionary also analyses it as from French nature +…

It is borrowed from Latin necessārius (“inevitable; urgent; indispensable”), from necesse (“unavoidable, necessary”), chiefly used in the impersonal phrase meaning “it is necessary”. It has been…

1. The numeral is inherited from Old French nuef, inherited from Latin novem (“nine”). The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥; it matches Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽 (niun) and, with an…

It is inherited from Old French ordener, borrowed from Latin ordinō (“to set in order, arrange”), derived from ordō (“row, order”), the source of ordre. The form closer to Latin, ordiner, was also…

It is borrowed from Latin perficiō (“to do thoroughly, finish, complete”), remodelled after faire. The Latin verb is formed from per- (“through, thoroughly”) and faciō (“to do, make”). Wiktionary…

It is the feminine past participle, used as a noun, of Old French partir (“to divide, share”), the old sense of partir. “Partir” is inherited from Late Latin “partīre”, classical Latin partior (“to…

It is inherited from Old French pire, inherited from Latin peior (“worse”), the comparative of malus (“bad”). “Pire” continues the Latin nominative “pejor”, stressed on the first syllable; the…

It is borrowed from Late Latin planēta (“wandering star”) (2nd century), a remaking of the plural “planētēs”, from Ancient Greek πλανήτης (planḗtēs, “wanderer”), used in “planêtes astéres”…

It is borrowed from Latin prōnūntiō (“to announce aloud; to proclaim; to pronounce, recite”) (1121–1134), formed with prō (“forth”) and nūntiō (“to announce”), a verb of the family of nūntius…

It is borrowed from Latin quālitās (“nature, character of a thing”), a word coined by Cicero from quālis (“of what kind”) to render the philosophers' Ancient Greek ποιότης (poiótēs), from ποῖος…

It is borrowed from Latin quaestiō (“search, inquiry; examination under torture”), from “quaesitum”, the supine of quaerō (“to seek, ask”), whence quérir. In Latin the word meant search in general…

It is borrowed from Latin regiō (“direction; boundary line; area, territory, country; district of a city”), derived from regō (“to direct, guide”), the source of régir. Old French also had a popular…

It is inherited from Latin reprendō (“to hold back, check; to blame, censure”), the contracted form of reprehendō, from re- and prehendō (“to seize”). For some of its senses, especially “to take…

It is inherited from Old French reont, inherited from Vulgar Latin *retundus, from Latin rotundus (“wheel-shaped, round; well-turned (of style)”) by dissimilation of the first vowel, from rota…

It is inherited from Old French seison, inherited from Latin satiō (“sowing; sowing time; seed”), in its accusative form. The Latin noun is derived from satum, supine of serō (“to sow, plant”), from…

It is borrowed from Latin secundus (“following; favourable; second”), a semi-learned word. The Latin adjective, properly “following”, is an old participle of sequor (“to follow”) (see suivre) with…

It is borrowed from Latin solūtiō (“loosening, dissolution; payment; explanation”), in Church Latin also “absolution, deliverance”, from the supine of solvō (“to untie, loosen; to pay; to dissolve…

1. The sum is borrowed from Latin summa (“the highest place; total, amount; the whole”), short for a Latin phrase meaning “the top line”, because the Romans added from the bottom up. It is the noun…

It is a compound from French tant + tôt, whose parts are no longer felt as separate. The second part, tôt, is *tostum, the neuter of Latin tostus (“roasted, burnt”) used as an adverb, which must…

1. The letter “y” is borrowed from Latin y, the letter the Romans took late from the Greek alphabet, Ancient Greek υ (u, “upsilon”), to write words taken from Greek. Its French name “i grec” “Greek…

It is borrowed from Latin zōna (“belt, girdle; climatic zone”), which is from Ancient Greek ζώνη (zṓnē, “belt, girdle; zone”), from ζώννυμι (zṓnnumi, “to gird”). In Late Latin medicine the word also…

It is inherited from Old French avancier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *abantiāre (“to bring forward”), from Late Latin abante (“before, in front”), which is ab and ante (“before”) (whence avant)…