300–201 BC

Old French words from Latin words first recorded in the 3rd century BC

17 Old French words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 3rd century BC, earliest Latin record first.

corde
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin chorda

It continues inherited from Latin chorda (“string of an instrument; rope”), which is from Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “guts; string of gut”). Bloch and Wartburg note that the Latin word, properly a…
pris
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin pretium

It is inherited from Latin pretium (“price, value, reward”). The DÉRom reconstructs a neuter Proto-Romance noun with cognates in every branch except Vegliote, Friulian and Spanish, among them…
cler
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin clarus

It is inherited from Latin clārus (“bright, clear, loud; famous”). The DHLF relates the Latin word to calō (“to call”) and clāmō (“to shout”), and holds that it first applied to the voice and to…
aprover
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin approbo

It is inherited from Latin approbō (“to approve; to prove”). The Latin verb is formed with ad- on probō (“to test, prove”), the source of prover. Its Romance cognates include Italian approvare…
art
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin ars

It is inherited from Latin ars (“skill, craft”), from its accusative artem. The Latin noun was feminine, and in French the gender wavered between masculine and feminine until the 16th century…
coste
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin costa

It is inherited from Latin costa (“rib, side”). The TLFi and Wiktionary instead call it a borrowing of the Latin anatomical word. Gamillscheg thinks the Latin word already had the transferred sense…
covrir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin cooperio

It is inherited from Latin cooperiō (“to cover completely”), a compound of con- and operiō (“to shut, close, cover”). The contracted form coperio is already found in Cato and Lucretius. De Vaan…
fol
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin follis

It is inherited from Latin follis (“bag; bellows”), which, used as an adjective, came to mean "idiot, fool" in Late Latin. Bloch and Wartburg explain the shift as a joke comparing a foolish person…
funder
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin fundo

It is inherited from Latin fundō (“to lay the foundation of, build; establish”), a Latin verb formed from fundus (“bottom”). Bloch and Wartburg note that the word stayed in contact with written…
merci
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin merces

It is inherited from Latin mercēs (“wages, reward”), through its accusative. The Latin noun is formed from merx (“merchandise”). In popular Latin it took the sense of price, whence favour, found in…
plaisir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin placeo

It is inherited from Latin placeō (“to be pleasing”), the infinitive of the Latin verb continued regularly in Old French. Wiktionary takes the noun for the infinitive used as a noun, and the DHLF…
poison
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin potio

It is inherited from Latin pōtiō (“a drink, draught”), in its accusative pōtiōnem. The Latin noun is derived from the supine of pōtō (“to drink”), a verb that did not survive in the Romance…
poulser
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pulso

It is inherited from Latin pulsō (“to beat, strike, push”). The Latin verb is a frequentative of pellō (“to drive, strike”), and the DHLF lists its senses as “to jostle, knock”, “to shake”, “to…
removoir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin removeo

It is inherited from Latin removeō (“to move back, take away”), formed in Latin from re- and moveō (“to move”). Tobler–Lommatzsch refers to the simple verb movoir. The DEAF gives the same etymon.
tendre
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tener

1. The word for tender is inherited from Latin tener (“soft, delicate”), taken in its accusative form tenerum. The DHLF finds no matching form in any other language and sets aside a link with Greek…
entendre
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin intendo

It is inherited from Latin intendō (“to stretch out; to direct towards”). The Latin verb is formed from in- and tendō (“to stretch”). Classical Latin used it for directing the eyes, the mind or…
front
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin frons

It is inherited from Latin frōns (“forehead, brow”), from the accusative frontem. The Latin word was usually feminine but already sometimes masculine, and is only masculine in Gallo-Romance. The…

All Old French words inherited from Latin, by century →