French words from Latin
186 French words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 2).
district
It is borrowed from Late Latin districtus (“territory, outskirts”), from “districtum”, the supine of Latin distringō (“to hold back, constrain”), itself from stringō (“to bind tight”). The learned…
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”…
échapper
It is inherited from Old French eschaper, inherited from Vulgar Latin *excappāre, formed with ex- on Late Latin cappa (“a kind of headdress; cloak”), properly “to throw off the cowl”, or else “to…
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…
effet
It is borrowed from Latin effectus (“performance, accomplishment; force; result, effect”), from effectum, the supine of efficiō (“to bring about”), from ex- and faciō (“to make, do”). Cognate with…
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…
énergie
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…
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…
étage
It is Old French estage (“dwelling; stay; condition”), formed from ester (“to stand, to be (somewhere)”) with the suffix -age, the verb being inherited from Latin stāre (“to stand”). Bloch and…
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…
étrange
It is inherited from Old French estrange, inherited from Latin extrāneus (“external; foreign”), a derivative of extrā (“outside”). Bloch and Wartburg compare the sound development of lange and…
expansion
It is borrowed from Late Latin expānsiō (“extension, spreading out”), from “expansum”, the supine of Latin expandō (“to spread out, unfold”), formed from “ex-” and Latin pandō (“to spread”). The…
fibre
It is borrowed from Latin fibra (“fibre (of plants and animals); lobe of the liver; entrails”), which in the augurs' language meant a division of the liver, and by extension the entrails and…
ficher
It is inherited from Old French fichier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *figicāre, later *ficcāre, from Latin fīgō (“to drive in, fix, pierce”). P. Guiraud supposed instead a form based on fictus, a…
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.
fou
It is inherited from Old French fol, inherited from Latin follis (“bellows; inflated bag; ball”), which in Late Latin had come to mean “foolish, idiot”. The fool was likened in jest to a ball blown…
fusion
It is borrowed from Latin fūsiō (“a pouring out, (Late Latin) melting of metals”), from fūsum, the supine of fundō (“to pour; to melt”), the source of fondre. It is a doublet of the inherited…
gâter
It is inherited from Old French guaster, inherited from Latin vāstō (“to lay waste, depopulate; to ravage”), from vāstus (“empty, desolate”), whose initial was changed to /w/, and hence /g/, under…
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…
honnête
It is borrowed from Latin honestus (“honourable, respected; virtuous; fine”), from Latin honōs (“honour”), through a stem “*honos, honeris” (see honneur). Cognate with Old Occitan honest, Spanish…
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…
ignorer
It is borrowed from Latin īgnōrō (“not to know”), from īgnārus (“not knowing”), formed from in- and gnārus (“knowing”), the source of ignare. Cognate with Old Occitan ignorar, Spanish ignorar and…
illégal
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin illēgālis (1269), formed from in- (“not”) and Latin lēgālis (“relating to the laws”), from lēx (“law”). It may also be analysed as il- + légal.
inaugurer
It is borrowed from Latin inaugurō (“to take the auguries; to consecrate (a priest, a place) after taking the auguries”), from in- and augurō (“to foretell”), a derivative of augur (“augur”). French…
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…
investir
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…
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…
lever
It is inherited from Old French lever, inherited from Latin levō (“to lighten, relieve; to lift up”), a verb formed from levis (“light (in weight)”), so properly “to make light”. Rey explains that…
libertin
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…
lieue
It is inherited from Old French liue, inherited from Late Latin leuca, also leuga, which Latin writers give as a Gaulish word, the Gaulish mile: from Gaulish. Wiktionary relates it to Proto-Celtic…
luxure
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…
mail
1. The mallet is inherited from Old French mail, inherited from Latin malleus (“hammer, mallet”), a technical word that Rey compares with Old Church Slavonic млатъ (mlatŭ, “hammer”) and Old Norse…
maison
It is inherited from Old French maisun, inherited from Latin mānsiō (“stay; lodging, stopping place”) (accusative “mānsiōnem”), from maneō (“to remain, stay”), whence also manoir. In imperial Latin…
maître
It is inherited from Old French maistre, inherited from Latin magister (“chief, master, teacher”), probably derived from magis (“more”), like minister from minus. Magister replaced classical Latin…
manipule
It is borrowed from Latin manipulus (“handful, sheaf; company of soldiers”), formed from manus (“hand”) and an obscure second element; Littré took it to be pleō (“to fill”). The French word is…
marché
It is inherited from Old French marchié, inherited from Latin mercātus (“trade; market”), from mercor (“to trade”), from merx (“goods”), a word perhaps connected with the god Mercury. It is a…
masser
1. “To mass” is formed from masse “mass” with the ending -er. The noun is inherited from Latin massa (“lump of dough; mass”), from Ancient Greek μᾶζα (mâza, “barley cake”). 2. “To massage” is…
mèche
It is inherited from Old French mece, inherited from Vulgar Latin *micca (“wick”), a Gallo-Romance alteration, under the influence of Latin muccus (“mucus”), of Latin myxa (“lamp wick”), which is…
médical
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…
menu
It is inherited from Old French menu, inherited from Latin minūtus (“small, fine”), the past participle of minuō (“to lessen”), which shares its stem with minus (“less”). In popular Latin minūtus…
mètre
1. The unit is borrowed from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”), adopted by a law of 26 March 1791 during the work on the metric system. Late Latin metrum already meant a measuring instrument…
meute
It is inherited from Old French muete, inherited from Vulgar Latin *movita, the feminine used as a noun of *movitus, a past participle of Latin moveō (“to move”) rebuilt on the verb's stem beside…
milice
It is borrowed from Latin mīlitia (“military service; campaign”), from mīles (“soldier”), a word of unknown origin, perhaps borrowed from Etruscan. In Church Latin “militia” was also applied to the…
mobile
It is borrowed from Latin mōbilis (“movable; changeable, fickle”), a contraction of “*movibilis”, from moveō (“to move”). The same Latin word, inherited, gave meuble, of which “mobile” is a learned…
mode
It is borrowed from Latin modus (“measure; manner, way, (in music) mode, (in grammar) mood”), first as a feminine noun because of its ending in “-e”; the masculine was reintroduced from the mid-15th…
modeste
It is borrowed from Latin modestus (“moderate; calm; decent; reserved”), from modus (“measure”), the source of mode “manner”. The adverb “modestement” and “modestie” are recorded a little earlier…
momie
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin mumia, “mummia” (first half of the 12th century), the bituminous substance taken from embalmed bodies and used as a medicine, itself from Arabic مومياء (mūmiyāʔ…