French words first recorded in the 13th century

It is inherited from Old French chier, inherited from Latin cacō (“to defecate”). The regional and less coarse verbs caquer and caguer (the latter through Old Occitan cagar) come from the same Latin…

It is from French douze + -aine, formed in Old French on doze (“twelve”). Douze comes from Latin duodecim (“twelve”), through Vulgar Latin *dōdeci. Cognate with Occitan dotzena, Catalan dotzena…

It is a contraction of derrenier, formed on from Old French derrain (“last”) by analogy with premier. “Derrain”, earlier “dererain”, comes from Vulgar Latin *dēretrānus, a derivative in “-ānus” of…

It is borrowed from Latin repetō (“to seek again; to resume; to recall; to claim back”), from re- and petō (“to seek to reach, to ask for”) (compare pétition). Wiktionary takes it as inherited…

It is borrowed from Late Latin authenticus (“original, correctly attributed (of a text)”), whose neuter “authenticum” meant a legal deed that is binding. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek…

It is borrowed from Latin mōrālis (“relating to manners or customs”), a word specialised in scholastic Latin, derived from mōs (“custom, manner”), used in the plural for “morals”. The same Latin…

It is the feminine form of cours, from Latin cursus (“a running, course”), from currō (“to run”), and its development may have been helped by Italian corsa (“run, race”), recorded in the 14th century.

It is a deverbal noun from French départir, which in Old French meant “to go away, leave”. Littré points out that “départ” properly meant a sharing out, the first sense of “départir”, and that Old…

It is borrowed from Latin status (“a standing; position, situation”), from stō (“to stand”), which goes back to an Indo-European root “*sta-” “to stand”. In Latin “status” was often joined to…

It is from French front + -ière. The modern sense probably comes from phrases meaning “frontier country” (1405), a country guarded by an army or a fortress facing the enemy, rather than from the…

1. The gesture is borrowed from Latin gestus (“bearing; movement of the body; mimicry”), an action noun of gerō (“to carry; to do”). 2. The epic geste is borrowed from Latin gesta (“deeds…

It is inherited from Old French hale, borrowed from Frankish *halla (“large covered place”), reconstructed from Old High German halla and Middle High German halle (modern German Halle). Wiktionary…

It is formed from re- and amasser (“to amass”), itself a derivative of masse.

It is borrowed from Latin sōlitūdō (“solitude; loneliness; deserted place”), from sōlus (“alone”) (see seul). Bloch and Wartburg note that it was rare before the 16th century.

It is borrowed from Latin violentus (“vehement, impetuous; violent”), derived, like violō (“to violate”), from vīs (“force, strength; violence”). Wiktionary treats the Old French adjective as…

It is a back-formation from rapporter, itself from French re- + apporter, from Latin apportō (“to bring”). Rapporter is recorded from 1180 and rapport from the early 13th century.

It is borrowed from Latin violentia (“vehemence; violent force”), from violentus (“violent”) (see violent). Wiktionary treats it as inherited from Old French.

It is borrowed from Latin committō (“to put together; to entrust; to perpetrate”), formed from com- (“with”) and mittō (“to send”), the source of mettre. Its French uses follow the main senses of…

1. The word for worry is a deverbal noun from soucier, which comes from Vulgar Latin *sollicītō, an alteration of Latin sollicitō (“to stir up; to disturb, worry”), probably after the past…

It is a semi-learned borrowing of Latin praevideō (“to see beforehand, foresee”), from prae- (“before”) and videō (“to see”), remade after voir. Wiktionary treats it as inherited through Old French…

It is borrowed from Latin cāsus (“fall; chance, event; misfortune; grammatical case”), the noun of cadō (“to fall”) (see choir). Properly “a falling”, the Latin word meant death by euphemism and…

It is borrowed from Latin circumstantia (“a standing around; situation, circumstances”), the neuter plural of the present participle of circumstō (“to stand around”), taken as a feminine. The Latin…

It is borrowed from Latin relātiō (“a report, account; a relation, connection”), the noun formed on relātum, the supine of referō (“to carry back, report”) (see référer, relater). From the 1st…

It is a noun formed from the verb rester. “Rester” is from Latin restō (“to stay behind, remain”). The word was feminine at first, from 1230 to the end of the 16th century, a gender that survived in…

It is borrowed from Latin sors (“lot, fate; rank, condition; kind”), accusative “sortem”. In classical Latin “sors” already meant “manner” (Virgil's “nova pugnae sors”), and the sense is common in…

It is formed from couper (“to cut”) with the suffix “-on”. “Couper” is derived from coup, from Vulgar Latin “colpus” (Salic Law), from Latin colaphus (“cuff, punch”), from Greek “kolaphos”.

It is borrowed from Latin distantia (“distance, remoteness; difference”), from distāns (“standing apart”) (see distant), the present participle of distō (“to stand apart”), from dis- and stō (“to…

It is the feminine past participle of feindre used as a noun, from Latin fingere (“to shape; to invent; to pretend”). Compare Old Spanish and Italian finta and Old Occitan fenha.

It is formed from French personne + -age,; Littré gives as its model Late Latin personaticum. persōna (“actor's mask; character; person”) is, according to Bloch and Wartburg, of Etruscan origin…

It is formed from French absolu + -ment, on the feminine “absolue”. Littré remarks that the regular spelling would be “absoluement” or “absolûment”, but usage dropped every sign of the derivation…

It is the feminine form of but (“target, aim”), Littré noting that “but” and “butte” were long confused and differ only in gender. The origin of “but” is doubtful: it is perhaps from Old Norse butr…

The origin is uncertain. Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF take it from the verb gauchir “to turn aside, warp”, which Bloch and Wartburg explain as Old French guenchir (“to swerve”), from Frankish…

It is inherited from Old French parvenche, inherited from Late Latin pervinca, a form implied by Italian pervinca and Catalan pervinca, short for Latin vincapervinca, the plant's Latin name. The…

It is borrowed from Latin impossibilis (“that cannot be or be done, (Late Latin) unable”), formed with the negative prefix in- on possibilis (“possible”) (compare possible), from possum (“to be…

It is an alteration of Old French estoper (“to stop up, plug”) (see étouper, étoupe), under the influence of another Old French verb, estofer (“to stuff, pad”) (see étoffer), which is Germanic…

It is an adaptation of Latin regō (“to direct, guide, rule”), with a change of conjugation that drove out the Middle French form “reger”; Wiktionary calls it semi-learned. The Latin verb is related…

It is a deverbal noun from French rencontrer, or, according to the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert, a compound of re- and the old noun encontre for its first senses. Old and Middle French had that…

It is borrowed from Latin āctor (“one who acts; performer; pleader”), from agō (“to do, act”) (see agir). Its first senses, “author of a book” and “author of an action”, come from a confusion with…

It is borrowed from Latin pūblicus (“of the people or the State; of common use, common to all”). The Latin adjective goes with populus (“people”) (see peuple); the TLFi, after Ernout and Meillet…

It is borrowed from Latin exāminō (“to weigh; to examine”), a derivative of exāmen, which meant “the tongue of a balance”, hence “weighing, examination”. The same Latin noun, in its other sense…

It is from French tendre (“tender, soft”) + -esse. The adjective goes back to Latin tener (“soft, delicate”). Meyer-Lübke sets up a Latin *teneritia (“tenderness”) for the whole Romance type. The…

It is a learned borrowing from Latin thema (“subject, proposition; horoscope”), a rhetorical term, from Ancient Greek θέμα (théma, “what is placed; subject of a speech”), from τίθημι (títhēmi, “to…

It is borrowed from Latin cōnsīderō (“to examine closely, look at attentively; to reflect on”), formed with cum on sīdus (“constellation, star”). Rey takes it to have been a verb of the language of…

It is borrowed from Latin investīre (“to clothe, cover”), which in medieval legal Latin (from the late 8th century) meant “to put in possession of a fief or office”, a piece of clothing being the…

It is probably borrowed from Old Occitan botica (1314), from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “storehouse, magazine”), whence Latin apothēca; the ⟨i⟩ reflects the late Greek pronunciation of ⟨η⟩…

1. The adjective is borrowed from Latin augustus (“consecrated by the augurs; venerable”), which Rey derives from augur (“augur”); Littré instead linked it with augeō (“to increase”). The Latin…

It is borrowed from Latin obligō (“to tie to; to bind, pledge (by contract, vow or favour)”), formed from ob- (“towards; in return for”) and ligō (“to tie, bind”) (see lier). Compare Old Occitan…

The origin is doubtful. The TLFi, Rey and Bloch–Wartburg favour borrowed from Old Norse bútr (“log, block of wood”), a piece of wood having probably served as a target in archery; the spread of the…

It is Old French roable, from Latin rutābulum (“baker's oven rake”), a technical word formed from the supine “rutum” of ruō (“to throw down; to rush”); Rey notes it was also a familiar Latin word…

It is from French ban + -al, in the feudal sense of ban, a lord's jurisdiction or proclamation, a word from Frankish *ban. Compare Medieval Latin bannālis.

It is borrowed from Latin articulus (“joint; part, division; moment”), borrowed in 1248 with the ending adapted. The Latin word is a diminutive of artus (“limbs, joints”), of the same Indo-European…

It is borrowed from Latin acceptō (“to receive; to accept”), a frequentative of accipiō (“to receive, welcome”). Rey explains it as formed on the participle acceptus, and the base verb as a compound…

It is formed from Old French a (“at”) + lors (“then”), an expressive strengthening of the adverb lors “then” with the preposition à. Rey prefers this explanation, supported by the parallels “adonc”…

It is a back-formation from French bailler “to give, hand over”, which is from Latin bāiulāre (“to carry on one's back”). The Latin verb is from bāiulus (“porter”).

It is from French complet + -ment, from the feminine of complet (“complete”). The TLFi notes a slight chronological gap, as the adjective is first recorded later.

It is borrowed from Latin dēclārō (“to show clearly; to proclaim; to express”), formed from dē- with intensive force and clārō (“to make clear”), from clārus (“clear”) (see clair). Until the 16th…

It is inherited from Old French fooillier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *fodiculō, a derivative of classical fodicō (“to pierce; to dig”), from fodiō (“to dig”) (see fouir). Littré compares Occitan…

It is borrowed from Latin horizōn (“horizon (in astronomy); limit of the view”), from Ancient Greek ὁρίζων (horízōn, “(circle) bounding the view”), the present participle of ὁρίζω (horízō, “to…

It is borrowed from Latin interdīcō (“to forbid”), adapted after dire; the religious sense comes from the Church Latin use “to forbid worship in a place or to a priest” (9th century). The Latin verb…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin minūta, the feminine of classical Latin minūtus (“small, minute”) used as a noun, the past participle of minuō (“to make smaller, lessen”), itself derived from…