French words from Latin
104 French words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
absinthe
It is borrowed from Latin absinthium, which named both the plant artemisia and, from Pliny on, the drink made from it, from Ancient Greek ἀψίνθιον (apsínthion, “wormwood”), a pre-Greek word. The…
alibi
It is borrowed from Latin alibī (“elsewhere”), an adverb derived from alius (“other”), to which the legal Latin of the Middle Ages gave its special sense. Littré analyses it as “alius” and “ibī”…
amateur
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…
anxieux
It is borrowed from Late Latin anxiōsus, a medical term of the 5th century, derived from Latin anxius (“troubled; troubling”), from angō (“to squeeze, choke”), the source of angoisse. The Grand…
armistice
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin armistitium (“a halt of arms”) (1335), a diplomatic Latin word, formed from Latin arma (“weapons”) and an element related to statiō (“standing still”) or sistō…
authentique
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…
bal
It is a back-formation from Old French baller (“to dance”) (about 1165), which is inherited from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”) (Saint Augustine). The Latin verb is related in sense to Greek Ancient…
beurre
It is inherited from Old French burre, inherited from Latin būtyrum, borrowed from Ancient Greek βούτυρον (boúturon, “butter; ointment”), literally “cow cheese”, from βοῦς (boûs, “cow”) and τυρός…
biche
The older form “bisse” is inherited from Vulgar Latin bistia (“beast”) (6th century), a variant of classical Latin bēstia, the source of bête. The form “biche” is harder to explain. It is usually…
bison
It is borrowed from Latin bison (“wild ox”), recorded from the 1st century in Seneca and Pliny, which also passed into Ancient Greek βίσων (bísōn) (Pausanias, Oppian). The Latin word is taken from a…
blâmer
It is inherited from Old French blasmer, inherited from Vulgar Latin *blastēmō (“to reproach”), an altered form of Ecclesiastical Latin blasphēmō (“to blaspheme; to revile”), from Ancient Greek…
bœuf
It is inherited from Old French buef, inherited from Latin bōs (“ox, cow”) (accusative bovem). Rey explains bōs as a dialect form preferred to the native Roman development, from an Indo-European…
calendrier
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…
carreau
It is inherited from Old French quarrel, inherited from Vulgar Latin *quadrellus, a diminutive of Latin quadrus (“square”). Medieval Latin quadrellus is recorded as a crossbow bolt (about 578), a…
cerise
It is inherited from Old French cerise, inherited from Vulgar Latin *ceresia, a neuter plural taken as a feminine singular, from Late Latin ceresium (6th century), a variant of imperial cerasium…
chaire
It is inherited from Old French chaere, by regular sound change inherited from Latin cathedra (“chair with a back”), borrowed from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra, “seat; teacher's chair; throne”)…
champagne
It is short for “vin de Champagne”, wine of Champagne, the province, whose name is inherited from Late Latin campānia (“plain, open country”), used as a place name in Late Latin “Campania Remensis”…
chapelle
It is inherited from Old French chapele, inherited from Late Latin cappella (“little cloak”), a diminutive of cappa (“hooded cloak”), whence chape and cape. Medieval Latin cappella named first (679)…
chaudière
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…
chauffer
It is inherited from Old French chaufer, inherited from Vulgar Latin *calefāre, a shortening of Latin calefacere (“to make warm; to excite”), a compound of caleō (“to be warm”) and faciō (“to…
chef
It is inherited from Old French chief, inherited from Vulgar Latin *capum, attested in the 7th century, an altered form of classical Latin caput (“head; end; leader”). Rey relates caput to English…
chou
It is inherited from Old French chol, inherited from Latin caulis (“stem; cabbage”), which also named stem-shaped objects. Rey relates it to Ancient Greek καυλός (kaulós, “stem”), which Wiktionary…
chute
It is a reshaping, after the participle cheüe, of Old French cheoite (“a fall”), the feminine past participle of choir “to fall” used as a noun, inherited from Vulgar Latin *cadecta, a popular…
ciseau
It is inherited from Old French cisel, inherited from Vulgar Latin *cisellum, an alteration, after the compounds of Latin caedō (“to cut”) in “-cīsus” (“incīsus”, “occīsus”), of *caesellum, formed…
citoyen
It is derived from cité with the suffix “-ain”, later confused with “-ien”: Old French citeain, citeien, citoien. “Cité” is inherited from Latin cīvitās (“body of citizens; city”). Littré derived it…
colonne
It is borrowed from Latin columna (“pillar, column; support”), probably related to columen (“summit”) and to the verb behind exceller. Its form was influenced by Italian colonna. The Old French…
complexe
It is borrowed from Latin complexus (“made of interwoven elements”), the past participle of complector (“to embrace, encompass”), from com- and plectō (“to plait, interweave”). The psychoanalytic…
coq
It is inherited from Old French coc, inherited from Late Latin coccus, found in the Salic Law (6th century), a word of imitative origin; Petronius already writes the cock's crow “cocococo”. Rey…
corail
It is inherited from Old French coral, inherited from Late Latin corallum, an altered form of classical Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion), itself probably a borrowing…
coucou
It is inherited from Old French cucu, inherited from Latin cucūlus (“cuckoo”), an expressive word imitating the bird's call, remade under the influence of that call: the second “k” was restored and…
couette
1. The duvet is inherited from Old French coute, inherited from Latin culcita (“mattress, cushion”), which developed in two ways according to region, giving coute and coite. Bloch and Wartburg think…
couteau
It is inherited from Old French coltel, inherited from Latin cultellus (“small knife”), the diminutive of culter (“knife; ploughshare”), which itself gave coutre “coulter”. The diminutive was the…
craie
It is inherited from Old French croie, inherited from Latin crēta (“chalk; white clay”), a word of unknown origin, also the source of German Kreide. In Gallo-Romance it kept only the sense “chalk”…
crème
It is inherited from Old French craime, inherited from Late Latin crāma (6th century, Venantius Fortunatus), a word of Gaulish origin: from Gaulish; Bloch and Wartburg compare Welsh crammen…
crêpe
1. The pancake is the feminine of the Old French adjective cresp, crespe (“curly, wavy”), used as a noun, which is inherited from Latin crispus (“curly”); it alludes to the look the batter takes as…
déjeuner
It is probably inherited from Late Latin disiēiūnō (“to break one's fast”), attested only in the 11th century, later disiūnō, from the prefix dis- and Late Latin iēiūnō (“to fast”), from Latin…
diable
It is a very early, semi-learned borrowing from Christian Latin borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin diabolus (“devil”), from Church Greek Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos), in classical Greek…
domino
The origin is uncertain. It seems to be borrowed from Latin dominō (“(to the) Lord”), the dative or ablative of “dominus” “lord, master”, taken from a formula of prayer such as “benedicamus Domino”…
école
It is borrowed from Latin schola (“leisure for study; lesson; school”), from Ancient Greek σχολή (skholḗ, “leisure; study”). The Greek word meant leisure, then the study done at leisure (Plato), and…
église
It is inherited from Old French eglise, inherited from Vulgar Latin eclesia, a frequent popular form of Christian Latin ecclēsia, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “assembly of…
épice
It is, by early borrowing, borrowed from Latin speciēs (“sight; appearance; kind”), which in Late Latin meant goods classified by kind, hence foodstuffs, spices and drugs. “Species” comes from…
épine
It is inherited from Old French espine, inherited from Latin spīna (“thorn; thorny shrub; spine”), which also meant an animal's spine or prickle and, figuratively, a difficulty. Rey says the Latin…
étincelle
It is inherited from Old French estencele, inherited from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, by metathesis of classical Latin scintilla (“spark”), a word of expressive origin. The form with “-in-”, from…
flamme
It is inherited from Old French flame, inherited from Latin flamma (“flame, fire”), used literally and figuratively. Rey explains the Latin word as an expressive formation from “flag-ma”, related to…
fleur
It is inherited from Old French flor, inherited from Latin flōs (“flower; the finest part”) (accusative flōrem). The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to bloom”), also seen in…
forêt
It is inherited from Old French forest, inherited from Late Latin forestis, probably from the phrase “silva forestis”, a forest under the king's court of justice, from Latin forum (“court of…
fossile
It is borrowed from Latin fossilis (“dug up”), probably formed on fossum, the supine of fodiō (“to dig”), the source of fouir and of fosse.
geai
It is inherited from Old French jai, inherited from Late Latin gaius (“jay”) (5th century), probably taken from the personal name Latin Gaius, very common at Rome as a popular nickname: the jay…
géant
It is inherited from Old French jaiant, inherited from Vulgar Latin *gagantem, the accusative of “*gagas”, an altered form of Latin Gigās (“Giant”) (plural “Gigantēs”), from Ancient Greek γίγας…
gingembre
It is inherited from Old French gingibre, inherited from Late Latin gingiber, from classical zingiberi, borrowed from Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis, “ginger”), a word of eastern origin: Rey…
gloire
It is borrowed from Latin glōria (“renown, good reputation; in Church Latin, the majesty of God, heavenly bliss”). Littré notes that “glorie” was only a spelling recalling the Latin, the word being…
gnome
It is borrowed from New Latin gnomus, a word of the alchemists used by Paracelsus as a synonym of Pygmaei “pygmies”. The origin of the Latin word is uncertain. It may be a mistake for “genomus”, a…
honneur
It is inherited from Old French honor, inherited from Latin honor (“honour paid to gods or men; public office”) (classical “honōs”), a word of obscure origin. Bloch and Wartburg call it a borrowing…
hôtel
It is inherited from Old French ostel, inherited from Late Latin hospitāle (“guest room; inn”) (from “hospitale cubiculum”), the neuter of hospitālis (“of a guest”), used as a noun, from hospes…
huile
It is inherited from Old French oile, inherited from Latin oleum (“olive oil; oil”), derived from olea (“olive; olive tree”), from Ancient Greek ἐλαία (elaía, “olive”); Rey makes “oleum” a Latin…
insipide
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…
jais
It is a contraction of Old French jaiet, which is inherited from Latin gagātem (“jet”), the accusative of “gagātēs” (Pliny), from Ancient Greek γαγάτης (gagátēs), literally “stone of Gagas”, a town…
juvénile
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…
labeur
It is borrowed from Latin labor (“toil, effort, hardship”), with the ending made French on the model of the many words in “-eur”; Wiktionary has it pass through Old French labor. Rey thinks the…
langue
It is inherited from Old French langue, inherited from Latin lingua (“tongue; language”), which already had both senses, and the figurative one of a tongue-shaped object. Rey groups the Latin word…