French words from Latin
240 French words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 4).
prier
It is inherited from Old French preier, inherited from Late Latin precāre (6th century), from classical Latin precārī (“to pray, entreat”), a derivative of prex (“request, prayer”). The Latin noun…
prix
It is inherited from Old French pris, inherited from Latin pretium (“value; price; reward”). The origin of “pretium” is unclear; rather than with Balto-Slavic words such as Russian “protiv”…
querelle
It is borrowed from Latin querella (“complaint, lament; complaint at law”) (more often “querēla”), from querī (“to complain”). Rey notes that the Latin verb seems isolated, a link with Sanskrit…
rallier
It is formed from allier (“to unite”) with the prefix re-, after the sense of “allier” “to unite (by a treaty)”. “Allier” is inherited from Latin alligō (“to bind to”), from ligō (“to bind”)…
rapide
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…
rapporter
It is from French re- + apporter, from apporter, inherited from Latin apportō (“to bring”). Wiktionary instead derives the Old French verb from Latin reportō (“to carry back”). Cognate with Italian…
rébus
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…
régime
1. “Regime” is borrowed from Latin regimen (“direction, government”), from Latin regō (“to direct, rule”) (see régir). The earlier popular form “roiame” (late 12th century, “regisme” “kingdom”…
reine
It is inherited from Old French reïne, inherited from Latin rēgīna (“queen”), the feminine of Latin rēx (“king”) (see roi). The modern pronunciation comes from the West. Middle French also had the…
relief
It is a back-formation from relever, made on the old stressed forms of the verb such as “je relief”, the verb being inherited from Latin relevō (“to raise again; to relieve”). The sense “projection…
république
It is borrowed from Latin rēspūblica (“the public thing; the state; the commonwealth”), a fusion of Latin rēs (“thing”) (see rien) and “publica”, feminine of Latin pūblicus (“public”) (see public)…
réserver
It is borrowed from Latin reservō (“to keep back, set aside; to save”), from the intensive “re-” and servō (“to watch, keep”), whose compounds gave observer, conserver and préserver. From the early…
restaurer
It is borrowed from Latin restaurō (“to rebuild, repair; to resume, renew”), first as “restaurar” and then in the more French form restorer; the ⟨au⟩ was later restored after the Latin spelling. Rey…
résumer
It is borrowed from Latin resūmō (“to take up again, resume”), from the iterative re- and sūmō (“to take”), itself from “*sus-emere”, a compound of Latin emō (“to take; to buy”) (see exempt)…
revue
It is the feminine past participle of revoir used as a noun, after vue, from voir, inherited from Latin vidēre (“to see”). The sense “periodical” is from English review (1705), itself taken from Old…
route
It is inherited from Old French rote, inherited from Vulgar Latin *rupta, short for the phrase “via rupta”, literally “a broken, opened way”, from the feminine past participle of Latin rumpō (“to…
royaume
It is inherited from Old French reiame, altered by crossing with royal; reiame was understood as a derivative of Latin rēx (“king”), but is in fact inherited from Latin regimen (“direction…
rubis
It is inherited from Old French rubis, the plural, taken as a singular, of rubi, earlier robin, rubin, borrowed from Medieval Latin rubīnus (“red precious stone”), a derivative of Latin rubeus…
sarcasme
It is borrowed from Late Latin sarcasmus, used by the grammarians as a term of rhetoric, from Ancient Greek σαρκασμός (sarkasmós, “bitter laughter, sneer”), derived from σαρκάζω (sarkázō, “to bare…
savon
It is inherited from Old French savon, inherited from Latin sāpō (“soap”) (accusative “sāpōnem”), which Pliny describes as a mixture of tallow and ashes invented by the Gauls to redden their hair…
sceau
It is inherited from Old French seel, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sigellum, an alteration of classical Latin sigillum (“statuette; impression of a seal; seal”), a diminutive of signum (“mark…
scorbut
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin scorbūtus, a medical term (from 1557), probably formed from an unattested Middle Dutch *scōrbut, modern Dutch scheurbuik, supposed from Middle Low German schorbuk…
sec
It is inherited from Old French sec, inherited from Latin siccus (“dry; sober; cold, unemotional”), which Rey relates to Ancient Greek ἰσχνός (iskhnós, “dry, lean”) and to the root of Sanskrit…
sensation
It is borrowed from Late Latin sēnsātiō (“understanding”) (Irenaeus), formed on “sensum”, the supine of Latin sentiō (“to feel, perceive”) (see sentir and sens). Bloch and Wartburg note that it was…
seul
It is inherited from Old French sol, inherited from Latin sōlus (“alone, only; solitary, deserted”), a word of unknown origin. Littré compared Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “whole”) and Latin salvus…
siècle
It is inherited from Old French siecle, earlier “secle”, a form remade after Latin of the popular “seule” (881), inherited from Latin saeculum (“generation; age; century; in Church Latin, the…
siège
It is inherited from Old French siege, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sedicum or “*sedica”, which supposes a verb *sedicō formed from Latin sedeō (“to sit”), the source of seoir. Bloch and Wartburg…
sirène
It is borrowed from Late Latin sīrēna, a remaking of classical Latin Sīrēn, from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn), of obscure origin. The popular Old French form “sereine”, perhaps crossed with the…
soupe
It is inherited from Old French sope, inherited from Late Latin suppa (“sopped bread”) (about 500), which also gave Italian zuppa and Spanish sopa. Suppa is of Germanic origin according to Bloch and…
soutenir
It is inherited from Old French sostenir, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sustenīre, an alteration of classical Latin sustineō (“to hold up; to endure”), remade after “*tenire” (see tenir); the Latin…
souverain
It is inherited from Old French soverain, inherited from Vulgar Latin *superānus (“upper; supreme”), derived from Latin super (“above”). The Latin word is not attested in classical texts but is…
sphère
It is borrowed from Latin sphaera (“ball; globe; celestial sphere”), from Ancient Greek σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball; globe, sphere”). Rey connects the Greek word with σπαίρω (spaírō, “to quiver”), the…
squelette
It is borrowed from Latin sceletus, from Ancient Greek σκελετός (skeletós, “dried up; a dried body, mummy”); Rey and Bloch and Wartburg take it straight from Greek. The Greek adjective comes from…
suite
It is Old French siute, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sequita (“pursuit”), the feminine used as a noun of “*sequitus”, a popular form of Latin “secūtus”, past participle of Latin sequī (“to follow”)…
suivre
It is inherited from Old French sivre, earlier “segre”, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sequere, a variant of the classical deponent Latin sequī (“to follow”). Bloch and Wartburg explain “suivre” from…
sujet
1. The adjective is borrowed from Latin subiectus (“placed under; subjected, subject”), the past participle of subiciō (“to place under; to subject”), from sub- and iaciō (“to throw”). The early…
sûr
It is inherited from Old French seür, inherited from Latin sēcūrus (“free from care; safe”), formed from the archaic particle sē- (“without”) and cūra (“care, worry”), the source of cure. The…
surveiller
It is formed from veiller (“to keep watch”) with the prefix sur-, the verb being inherited from Latin vigilō (“to be awake, watch”). The Anglo-Norman “surveiller” “to keep vigil over” (1260–1270) is…
tante
It is an alteration of ante, inherited from Latin amita (“father's sister”). The origin of the ⟨t⟩ is disputed. The TLFi, Bloch–Wartburg and Rey see a nursery form, with the consonant repeated as in…
tâter
It is inherited from Old French taster, inherited from Vulgar Latin *tastāre, a contraction of *taxitāre, frequentative of Latin taxō (“to touch often and hard”), an intensive of tangō (“to touch”)…
temps
It is inherited from Old French tens, inherited from Latin tempus (“time; period, moment; the right moment; weather”) (genitive “temporis”). Latin “tempus” was a portion of time, as opposed to…
terrain
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *terrānum, with a change of suffix from Latin terrēnum (“ground, soil”), the neuter used as a noun of “terrēnus” “of earth”, from Latin terra (“earth”) (see terre)…
ton
1. The possessive is inherited from Old French ton, from the unstressed Vulgar Latin forms of Latin tuus (“your, thy”) (accusative “tuum”): “tus”, “tum”, contracted in proclitic position, which the…
tort
It is inherited from Old French tort, inherited from Vulgar Latin tortum (“wrong”), the neuter of Latin tortus (“twisted”) used as a noun, the past participle of torqueō (“to twist”), properly “what…
traité
1. “Treatise” is a Frenchified form of Latin tractātus (“handling; treatment of a subject”), remade after traiter; the Latin noun is formed on the supine of Latin tractō (“to handle, treat”)…
trouver
It is inherited from Old French trover, probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *tropāre, a derivative of Latin tropus (“figure of speech”), from Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “turn, manner”). The form…
tube
It is borrowed from Latin tubus (“pipe, conduit, tube”), of the same uncertain origin as Latin tuba (“trumpet”) (see tuba). The cycling sense “racing tyre” is from English “single-tube”, and “le…
unique
It is borrowed from Latin ūnicus (“only, sole; matchless”), from Latin ūnus (“one”) (see un). English unique (about 1600) is from French.
véhicule
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…
victoire
It is borrowed from Latin victōria (“victory; the goddess Victory; her statue”), first as “victorie” and then Frenchified as “victoire”. The Latin word is the feminine of an adjective formed from…
vide
It is the Old French feminine vuide, which ousted the masculine “vuit” by the 15th century, inherited from Vulgar Latin *vocitus (“empty”), from “*vocuus”, an archaic variant of classical Latin…
vierge
It is borrowed from Latin virgō (“maiden, virgin”), taken through Church Latin (accusative “virginem”), a word with no known Indo-European counterpart. In imperial Latin “virgo” was also an…
vigne
It is inherited from Old French vigne, inherited from Latin vīnea (“vineyard; vine”), the feminine used as a noun of vīneus (“of wine”), from Latin vīnum (“wine”) (see vin). In Latin “vinea” was…
vignette
It is a diminutive of vigne (“vine”) with the suffix “-ette”, because the ornament first represented vine branches and leaves; it is no longer felt to be related. “Vigne” is inherited from Latin…
ville
It is inherited from Old French vile, inherited from Latin vīlla (“farm, country house”), which from the 5th–6th centuries also meant a group of houses around the villa, roughly a village. In…
virer
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *virāre, an alteration of classical Latin vibrāre (“to shake, brandish, hurl”) with the labials dissimilated, the short “i” made long under the influence…
visa
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…
voir
It is inherited from Old French veoir, earlier “vedeir”, inherited from Latin videō (“to see”). The Latin verb belongs to the Indo-European root “*weid-”, which expressed seeing as a means of…
voûte
It is inherited from Old French volte, inherited from Vulgar Latin *volvita, the feminine used as a noun of *volvitus, a reshaping of classical Latin volūtus, the past participle of volvō (“to roll…
vue
It is the feminine past participle of voir used as a noun, the verb being inherited from Latin videō (“to see”). Compare Italian veduta.