French words first recorded in the 16th century

It is the feminine past participle of recroître (“to grow again”) used as a noun, literally “what has grown again, what is added to an army”; the verb is from Latin recrēscō (“to grow again…

1. “Cathedral” is borrowed from Italian duomo (“cathedral church”) (13th century), probably shortened from Medieval Latin “domus episcopi” “the bishop's house”: “domus episcoporum” is used of the…

It is borrowed from Latin rapidus (“sweeping along; swift, impetuous”), from rapiō (“to seize, carry off”), the source of ravir. It displaced the inherited Old and Middle French rade (“swift…

It is borrowed from Late Latin discursus (“conversation, talk”), adapted after cours. In classical Latin the noun meant “a running to and fro”, a sense also borrowed in 16th-century French; it comes…

It is borrowed from Late Latin īnsipidus (“tasteless”), used both literally and figuratively, formed from in- (“not”) and sapidus (“tasty; wise”), from sapiō (“to taste of; to be wise”). The sense…

1. The plant is borrowed from Italian rochetta (16th century), an old variant of ruchetta, diminutive of ruca, from Latin ērūca (“caterpillar; rocket (the plant)”). Rey explains that the hairy stem…

It is an alteration, after ville, of “vau de vire” “topical song” (15th century, “chanson du vau de vire”, 1452–1478), traditionally linked with the “Vau” (valley) “de Vire” in Calvados, home of the…

It is derived from an onomatopoeia imitating a sharp, sudden noise (see claque, clac). Littré compared Dutch klakken; Wiktionary derives the French verb from Middle Dutch klacken (“to clack, crack”).

It is borrowed from Latin concrētus (“grown together, solidified; thick, solid”), the past participle of concrēscō (“to grow together; to solidify”), from com- and crēscō (“to grow”), the source of…

It is from French dis- + paraître, formed after Late Latin dispāreō (“to cease to be visible”), which had given Old French disparoir. The TLFi dates “disparoir” to 1170, the Grand Robert to the 13th…

It was first borrowed from Latin geniālis (“of birth; nuptial; festive; fruitful”), from genius (“tutelary spirit”), in the sense “pleasant, voluptuous” (1509). Its modern sense is a new derivation…

It is borrowed from Latin indicō (“to point out, show; to denounce; to put a price on”), from index (“forefinger; informer”) (see index, indice). Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1510; the TLFi's first…

It is borrowed from Italian bronzo (“alloy of copper and tin”) (1250–1300), whose origin is obscure. Medieval forms in northern Italy, such as “bronzium” (Piacenza, 1314) and “brundum” (Treviso…

It is an indirect borrowing of Arabic البرقوق (al-barqūq), with the article ال (al-). Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF give it as borrowed from Catalan albercoc, which gave the early form “aubercot”…

It is borrowed from Latin Britannicus (“of Britain”), from Britannia (“Britain”). The same Latin name is the source of breton.

It is borrowed from Latin correctus (“corrected, improved”), the past participle of Latin corrigō (“to straighten; to set right”) (see corriger), formed from “com-” and regō (“to direct, guide”)…

1. The rhetorical term is borrowed from Latin apostropha, from Ancient Greek ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ, “a turning away”), from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”), from ἀπό (apó, “away”) and στρέφω…

It is formed from French voler + -eur, from the verb in the sense “to steal”, which developed (1549) in the language of falconry, from phrases such as “ce faucon vole la perdrix”, “this falcon flies…

It is borrowed from Latin collēga (“colleague in a magistracy; companion, comrade”). Like collēgium, the source of collège, the Latin word is connected with lēx (“law”), perhaps through lēgō (“to…

1. It is a learned Renaissance borrowing from Latin plānus (“level, smooth, flat”), which had earlier given the inherited adjective plain. The noun (1553) is the adjective used substantively. 2. It…

It is probably borrowed from Italian bravo (“brave; wild”): the first French authors to use it wrote under Italian influence. Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and the Grand Robert name both bravo and…

It is a deverbal noun from French choquer (“to strike, knock against”). The verb is found first in Picard as chuquier “to clash in battle” (first half of the 13th century); its origin is obscure…

It is the present participle of restaurer “to restore one's strength with food”, used as a noun; Old Occitan had restaurant (“fortifying drink”) from 1507. The verb was borrowed from Latin restaurō…

It is borrowed from Italian pennacchio (“plume on a helmet”) (14th century), from Christian Latin Late Latin pinnāculum (“pinnacle”), itself from Latin pinna (“feather, wing”). Bloch and Wartburg…

It is the past participle of passer used as a noun, the participle having been an adjective since the late 11th century (“Chanson de Guillaume”). The verb is inherited from Vulgar Latin *passāre…

It is borrowed from Late Latin silentiōsus (“silent”), from silentium (“silence”) (see silence). The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date it to 1524; the TLFi's first record is from 1527.

1. The chestnut is borrowed from Italian marrone (“large edible chestnut”), recorded in Italian from the early 14th century; Medieval Latin had marro in a document from Como of 1176. The Italian…

It is the feminine past participle of arriver used as a noun. The verb, like démarrer, is a sailors' word whose sense widened: it continues Vulgar Latin *arrīpāre (“to come to shore”), from ad- and…

It is borrowed from Latin vīsa (“things seen”), the neuter plural of vīsus, past participle of videō (“to see”), a word written on documents that had been checked. Littré explains it as short for a…

It is a deverbal noun from French parfumer (“to scent”). The verb (14th century) was formed from Latin fūmō (“to smoke”) (see fumer) with per (“through”), probably borrowed from a Mediterranean…

It is a deverbal noun from French desseigner, dessigner, the older forms of dessiner, influenced by Italian disegno (“drawing”), itself a deverbal of disegnare. The verb was adapted from the…

It is a remaking of desseigner, borrowed from Italian disegnare (“to draw; to plan”) (13th century, figuratively from the 14th, Petrarch), from Latin dēsignō (“to mark out, trace; to designate”), a…

As a noun it is borrowed from Latin ūniversum (“the whole; the universe”), the neuter used as a noun of ūniversus (“whole, entire”), literally “turned so as to form one whole”, from ūnus (“one”) and…

It is borrowed from Portuguese barroco (“irregular pearl”), earlier “barroca” (13th century), a granite rock. The origin of the Portuguese word is obscure, probably pre-Roman because of its suffix…

It is borrowed from Occitan escalier, borrowed in writing, at first for the stone staircases typical of the Renaissance. The Occitan word, found as Medieval Latin “scalerium” in a charter of…

It is formed from French plaisant + -er (1531), on the adjective plaisant; Bloch and Wartburg list it in the family of plaire, whose old infinitive plaisir continues Latin placeō (“to please”)…

It is borrowed from Italian riuscire (“to come out again; to turn out; to succeed”), formed from ri- and uscire (“to go out”), from Latin exeō (“to go out”), which also gave Old French issir and…

It is derived from accoler (“to embrace (round the neck)”), remade with the suffix -ade from Old French acolee, itself from “a-” and “col” “neck” (see cou, col), from Latin collum. The Petit Robert…

It is borrowed from Biblical Hebrew קבלה (qabbālā, “tradition; something received”), a word of rabbinical Hebrew, derived from קבל (qibbēl, “to receive by tradition”). Wiktionary has it pass through…

It is formed from French en + suite, written as one word. Suite is the noun of suivre. Wiktionary compares Spanish enseguida.

It is borrowed from Latin genius (“guardian spirit; natural bent”), the spirit presiding over the conception and destiny of each person, from “genus” (see genre). In imperial Latin “genius” came to…

It is borrowed from Italian intrigare (“to entangle; to perplex; to intrigue”), the northern Italian form of intricare, from Latin intrīcō (“to entangle, embarrass”). Littré traced the Latin verb to…

It is from French là + bas (“down, below”), the adverb “bas”.

It is the present participle of pencher “to lean”, used as an adjective and as a noun. Pencher comes from Vulgar Latin *pendicō, derived from Latin pendeō (“to hang”).

1. The ball is borrowed from Italian balla, the northern Italian form of palla (“ball for the game of tennis”), which also came to mean the projectile of a firearm. Rey derives the Italian word…

It is formed from French brusque + -ment, matching Italian bruscamente. brusque is from Italian brusco (“sharp, rough”) (1373), originally the name of the butcher's broom, a spiny plant, probably…

It is borrowed from Italian colonnello (“commander of a column”), recorded before 1543, from colonna (“column (of soldiers)”), from Latin columna (“column”) (see colonne). The 16th-century form…

It is from French immédiat + -ment. immédiat (1382) is from Late Latin immediātus (“without intermediary”), from in- (“not”) and medius (“middle, intermediate”).

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin medicālis (“healthy; curable”), an altered form of classical Latin medicīnālis, the source of médicinal; both go back to medicus (“physician”). Bloch and Wartburg…

It is formed from French nation + -al. That noun is from Latin nātiō (“birth, origin; people”), from nātus (“born”), the past participle of nāscor (“to be born”). Wiktionary compares New Latin…

It is a diminutive of reine (“queen”) with the suffix “-ette”, used, as “reine” and its derivatives often were, for fruits and plants that were especially prized (compare “roynette” “meadowsweet”)…

It is borrowed from Latin attentiō (“attention, application”), from attentum, the supine of attendō (“to stretch towards; to give heed”). “Attendō” is formed from ad- and tendō (“to stretch”)…

It is the Provençal or, more probably, Norman-Picard form “campaigne” corresponding to Old French champaigne, found as a northern word in the 12th and 13th centuries, which it gradually replaced in…

It is from French à + delà, with the article contracted into au. The second element (about 1160) is formed from de and là, which comes from Latin illāc (“that way, there”). The noun is a conversion…

It is a deverbal noun from combattre. That verb is Vulgar Latin *combattere, from Late Latin combattuō, formed on Latin battuō (“to beat”) (see battre). The AND records the noun in Anglo-Norman, for…

It is borrowed from Spanish escotilla (“hatchway”) (1431–1450), a derivative of escotar (“to cut a neckline”), or of escote (“neckline, opening in a garment”) according to Bloch and Wartburg…

It is formed from French entour + -er, itself formed from en and tour. Littré notes that it is a recent formation on that word, in which the ⟨n⟩ of tourner has disappeared; the regular older verb…

It is the noun of patrouiller (early 15th century), a variant of “patouiller” “to paddle, mess about in mud” whose ⟨r⟩ comes from dialect words of similar meaning such as “gadrouiller” and…

1. The noun “ground” is borrowed from Latin solum (“bottom, base; floor; surface of the earth; land, country”). It appears in 1538 after the forms “suel” (14th century) and “soul” (15th century, in…

It is borrowed from Latin vehiculum (“means of transport, carriage”), from Latin vehō (“to carry, convey”) (see vecteur and voiture), which corresponds to Sanskrit वहति (vahati, “he conveys in a…