French words first recorded in the 15th century

It is borrowed from Latin praeveniō (“to come before; to anticipate, forestall; to surpass”), from prae- (“before”) and veniō (“to come”). Bloch and Wartburg note that French developed two senses…

It is borrowed from Latin lībertīnus (“freedman”), a derivative of lībertus (“freed”), formed from līberātus, past participle of līberō (“to free”), the source of libérer. Its special sense comes…

It is derived from réunir on the model of union. The verb, recorded from 1475, is formed from French ré- + unir, and unir is borrowed from Latin ūniō (“to unite”).

It is borrowed from Latin pantomīmus (“mime actor”), from Hellenistic Greek Ancient Greek παντόμιμος (pantómimos), formed from παντο- (panto-, “all”) and μῖμος (mîmos, “mime”), literally “one who…

It is from French bon (“good”) + soir (“evening”). “Soir” is from Latin sērō (“late”), an adverb. An older greeting was “bon vêpre”, still used by Molière: Je donne le bon vêpre à l'honorable…

It is probably borrowed from Middle Dutch drol (“goblin, little fellow”), figuratively “merry companion”. Rey calls the Dutch word of unknown origin and finds its link with the Scandinavian Old…

It is borrowed from Italian squadra, adapted a second time (see escadre), which stayed in the land army while “escadre” specialised in the navy. The TLFi thinks recourse to Spanish escuadra…

It is a deverbal noun from projeter. That verb was in the 12th century Old French porjeter (“to throw out, forward”), formed with puer (“forward”) (unstressed por), from Latin porrō (“forward”), and…

It is a compound of sur and tout. It replaced older adverbs built from the same words, such as Old French ensobretot (late 10th century), “ensorquetot” (about 1050) and “surketut” (about 1240)…

It is formed from French ma + demoiselle, with the possessive, as madame is from dame. In the Middle Ages the possessive and the noun were not yet felt as one word. The noun comes from Late Latin…

1. The ray is from French rai + -on, a derivative of the old word for a ray of light, from Latin radius (“staff, spoke, ray”). Wiktionary notes that it is unrelated to the verb rayer. Cognate with…

It is derived from émouvoir after Old and Middle French motion (“movement”), which was borrowed from Latin mōtiō (“movement; a shudder of fever”). The verb goes back to Vulgar Latin *exmoveō…

The TLFi takes it as a back-formation from the verb fracasser, like tracas beside tracasser, rather than a loan of Italian fracasso; Scheler and Littré also derived it from the verb. Bloch and…

It is from French mystère + -eux. Mystère was borrowed in the late 12th century from Latin mystērium (“rites open only to the initiated; secret”), itself from Ancient Greek μυστήριον (mustḗrion…

It is borrowed from Italian soldato (“soldier, literally one who is paid”), the past participle used as a noun of soldare (“to pay (soldiers)”), from soldo (“coin; pay”). “Soldo” goes back to Late…

It is borrowed from Italian importante (“of importance, especially of strategic or political interest”), found in the 15th century in the superlative “importantissime”, the present participle of…

It is from French gâche + -ette, a diminutive of gâche, the metal plate into which the bolt of a lock engages. Gâche is from Frankish *gaspia (“buckle, clasp”), reconstructed from Middle Dutch gespe…

1. The feminine is borrowed from Italian posta (“stall; relay of horses”), the feminine past participle used as a noun of porre (“to place, put”), from Latin pōnō (“to place”). The Petit Robert…

It is borrowed from Latin rēbus (“by means of things”), the ablative plural of rēs (“thing”) (the source of rien), but how it came to name the puzzle is disputed. Ménage traced it to the Latin…

It is borrowed from Latin ūnicus (“only, sole; matchless”), from Latin ūnus (“one”) (see un). English unique (about 1600) is from French.

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin subeō (“to go under; to come up; to take upon oneself, undergo”), first in its legal use for undergoing a penalty. The Latin verb is formed from sub-…

It is borrowed from Latin victima (“animal offered in sacrifice, (Christian Latin) sacrifice”). The origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has been compared with Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (weihan, “to…

It is borrowed from Italian zero (1491–1494), a contraction of zefiro, from Medieval Latin zephirum, a transcription of Arabic صفر (ṣifr, “empty; zero”). The Arabic word had already been borrowed as…

1. The adjective is borrowed from Latin physicus (“natural, relating to the study of nature”), from Ancient Greek φυσικός (phusikós, “natural, relating to nature”), derived from φύσις (phúsis…

It is borrowed from Latin amātor (“lover; supporter”), from amō (“to love”), the source of aimer. It replaced Old French ameor (nominative ameres), the inherited form of the same Latin word, which…

1. The Gentile is borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin gentīlēs (“pagans, the nations”), a noun plural that in the Old and New Testaments names the pagans as opposed to the people of Israel. It is the…

It is a compound from French quelque (“some”) + fois (“time, occasion”). Compare Walloon kécfeye.

It is probably a nasalized form of gripper “to climb” (early 14th century), perhaps influenced by ramper, which is close to it in meaning and use. That verb comes from Frankish *grīpan (“to seize”)…

It is borrowed from Latin imbēcillus (“weak in body or mind; without character”) (1495–1496), explained as literally “without a staff, without support”, from in- (“not”) and bacillum (“little…

It is borrowed from Latin līberō (“to set free; to free (a slave); to release from a debt or obligation”), from līber (“free”) (see libre). The verb inherited from the same Latin word is livrer, its…

It is a learned derivative of réel, after Medieval Latin reālis (“real, relating to things”), from Latin rēs (“thing”). Bloch and Wartburg and Wiktionary take it from the old form real with the…

It is borrowed from Latin vāstus (“empty, desolate; devastated; huge”). The Latin adjective had already given Old French guast, wast and gast “devastated, uncultivated”, whose form shows the…

It is borrowed from Italian schifo (“small boat”) (before 1470; the diminutive “schifetto” is found in the 14th century), from Lombardic *skif (“boat”), reconstructed from Old High German skif…

It is from French affres + -eux, from the noun for terror, now used only in the plural. Bloch and Wartburg think the noun (1460) probably came from Old Occitan afre (“horror”), which, like the…

It is borrowed from Italian cartone, the augmentative of carta (“paper”) with the suffix -one, itself from Latin charta, the source of carte. The Italian word is found in the 16th century both in…

It is borrowed from Late Latin energīa (“force, energy”), from Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia, “force in action”), as opposed to δύναμις (dúnamis, “potential force”); the Greek word comes from…

It is from French in- + croyable. Old French had a single encreable (early 13th century), perhaps “untrustworthy”. The base croyable is from croire, which continues Latin crēdō (“to believe”)…

It is borrowed from Italian maneggio (“handling; horse training”) (1590), a back-formation from maneggiare (“to handle; to train a horse”), derived from mano (“hand”), from Latin manus (“hand”), the…

It is borrowed from Latin rīdiculus (“laughable; funny, droll; absurd”), from rīdeō (“to laugh”) (see rire). The Latin word was used both in a good sense, “amusing, meant to make people laugh”, and…