Old French words from Latin
121 Old French words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
acompaignier
It is formed from Old French a- + compaing (“companion”) + -ier. Gamillscheg compares the formation of acointier. Etymonline instead derives it from the prefix and the verb compaignier. The noun…
anoncier
It is inherited from Latin annūntiō (“to announce, make known”). The Latin verb, also written adnūntiō, is formed from ad- (“to”) and nūntiō (“to report”), from nūntius (“messenger”), a word of…
anuller
It is borrowed from Latin annūllō (“to annihilate, annul”). Bloch and Wartburg take it from Medieval Latin and note that the Latin verb is rare in late antiquity; Lewis and Short cite it from the…
aprentis
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *apprenditicius (“meant for learning”), an adjective formed with the suffix -īcius on *apprenditus, a Vulgar Latin past participle that replaced apprēnsus. The verb…
aprisier
It is formed from Old French a- + prisier (“to value, esteem”). The simple verb is from Latin pretiō (“to value”), from pretium (“price”), under which the FEW files the whole family. Etymonline…
aprover
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
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…
asembler
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *assimulō (“to put together”), a derivative of Latin simul (“together”) with ad-. Wiktionary and Etymonline instead take it from the classical assimulō (“to make…
ataindre
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *attangō (“to touch, reach”), a form of Latin attingō (“to touch; to arrive at”) remade after the simple verb tangō (“to touch”). The DHLF mentions a possible…
aucion
It is borrowed from Latin āctiō (“a doing; a lawsuit”), a learned word, formed in Latin on agō (“to do, drive”) with the suffix -tiō. Its legal sense goes back to Latin, where the word already meant…
autorisier
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin auctorizō (“to confirm”), a verb recorded in 838 in a council of Toul, derived from Latin auctor (“author, originator”). The FEW files otroiier "to grant" under…
aventure
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *adventūra (“what is going to happen”). The Latin form is the neuter plural, made a feminine noun, of Latin adventūrus, the future participle of adveniō (“to…
avertir
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *advertiō, from Latin advertō (“to turn towards; to turn the mind to”) with a change of conjugation. The Latin verb is formed from ad- and vertō (“to turn”). The…
base
It is borrowed from Latin basis (“pedestal, foundation”), itself from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis, “stepping, step; base”). The Greek noun belongs to βαίνω (baínō, “to walk, go”), and the DHLF…
bloe
It is inherited from Late Latin blāvus (“blue”), a Latin form first found in Isidore of Seville and in glosses of the 8th and 9th centuries. The Latin word is from Frankish *blāo (“blue”), according…
bombace
It is borrowed from Late Latin bombax (“cotton”), which Du Cange records in Medieval Latin texts for cotton, the down of the cotton shrub. Etymonline takes the Latin noun for an altered and…
broche
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *brocca (“pointed thing”), the feminine, used as a noun, of Latin broccus (“with projecting teeth”). The Latin adjective, found in Plautus, was said of protruding…
cachier
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *coacticō (“to press together”), an intensive of coāctō (“to compel”), itself a frequentative of cōgō (“to compel”). The last is formed from com- and agō. Bloch and…
cause
It is borrowed from Latin causa (“cause, reason; lawsuit”), a learned word beside the inherited chose, which continues the same Latin noun. The Latin noun, written caussa in inscriptions until the…
cercle
It is inherited from Latin circulus (“circle, ring, hoop”), a diminutive of circus (“ring, circle”). In the Latin word the middle consonant of the group was kept, as in other groups ending in /l/ or…
certain
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *certānus (“certain, sure”), formed on Latin certus (“fixed, sure”). Gamillscheg takes the new adjective to have been said at first only of living beings, while…
chaste
It is a semi-learned word, borrowed from Latin castus (“pure, chaste”), taken from the Latin of the Church. The FEW files it under the Latin adjective, and Gamillscheg and Bloch–Wartburg call it a…
chaufer
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *calfō, a shortened form of Latin calefaciō (“to make warm”). The Latin verb is a compound of caleō (“to be warm”) and faciō (“to make”). Gamillscheg in his first…
cler
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…
compassïon
It is borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin compassiō (“fellow-suffering, pity”), from compatior (“to suffer with”). The Latin noun is formed from con- and passiō (“suffering”), a calque of Ancient…
congregacion
It is borrowed from Latin congregātiō (“assembly, union”). The Latin noun is formed from congregō (“to flock together”), itself made of con- and gregō (“to gather into a flock”), from grex (“flock…
constitucion
It is borrowed from Latin cōnstitūtiō (“arrangement, disposition; ordinance, decree”), a learned borrowing. The Latin noun is formed cōnstituō (“to set up, establish”) + -tiō; in Christian Latin…
consumer
It is borrowed from Latin cōnsūmō (“to use up, destroy”). The DHLF analyses the Latin verb as com- and sūmō (“to take for oneself”), a contraction of an older form built on emō (“to take, buy”), so…
contenir
It is borrowed from Latin contineō (“to hold together; to contain; to restrain”), formed from con- (“together”) and teneō (“to hold”). Bloch and Wartburg instead take it from the popular Latin verb…
conveier
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *conviō (“to set on the way, accompany”), formed from com- (“with”) and via (“way, road”). The DHLF analyses it as com- and the Late Latin verb viō (“to travel”)…
corde
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…
coste
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
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…
cuer
1. The word for the heart is inherited from Vulgar Latin *corem, from Latin cor (“heart”). Bloch and Wartburg and Gamillscheg start from a popular Latin declension with the oblique stem *coris in…
demener
It is formed from Old French de- + mener, the prefix strengthening the simple verb "to lead". The simple verb continues from Late Latin mināre (“to drive on (animals)”), which Etymonline derives…
denier
It is inherited from Latin dēnārius, first a Roman silver coin worth ten asses and in the late Empire a small copper coin. The Latin noun is an adjective, “containing ten”, used as a noun, from dēnī…
desoneste
It is formed from Old French des- + honeste (“honourable”). The adjective honeste is from Latin honestus (“honourable”), a derivative of honōs (“honour”). Etymonline also considers a Medieval Latin…
desordener
It is formed from Old French des- + ordener, the verb ordener being from Latin ordinō (“to put in order”). The FEW lists the word under the Latin verb.
despit
It is inherited from Latin dēspectus (“a looking down on; contempt”), the action noun of dēspiciō (“to look down on, despise”), which is formed from dē- and speciō (“to look”). The adjective…
differer
It is borrowed from Latin differō (“to carry apart; to differ; to put off”), taken over with a change of conjugation. Bloch and Wartburg note that the Latin verb already had both of the senses the…
disner
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *disiūnō, shortened by haplology from *disieiūnō (“to break the fast”), from dis- and Late Latin iēiūnō (“to fast”), from Latin ieiūnus (“fasting, hungry”), which…
disposer
It is borrowed from Latin dispōnō (“to place apart, arrange”), made French in form after poser; the Latin verb is formed from dis- and pōnō (“to put, place”). The FEW therefore lists the word under…
distiler
It is borrowed from Latin distīllō (“to drip, trickle down”). The Latin verb, also written dēstillō, is formed from Latin dē- + stīllō (“to drip”), from stīlla (“a drop”), which is probably a…
divers
It is borrowed from Latin dīversus (“turned different ways; different”), the past participle of dīvertō (“to turn aside”), used as an adjective. In Latin it came to mean "opposite, different", and…
enjöir
It is formed from Old French en- + joir, the verb joir being from Vulgar Latin *gaudiō, from gaudeō (“to rejoice”), whose infinitive moved to the fourth conjugation. Tobler–Lommatzsch equates it…
enseurer
It is formed from Old French en- + seur (“sure, safe”), a verb made on the adjective. The adjective is from Latin sēcūrus (“free from care”), itself made of sē- (“without”) and cūra (“care”). The…
entendre
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…
esclave
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”), recorded in the 10th century and a variant of slavus (“Slav”), which is found in the 7th. The TLFi and the DHLF take the Latin noun for a…
especial
It is borrowed from Latin speciālis (“of a particular kind, individual”), formed from speciēs (“kind, sort”) with -ālis. Like other Latin words beginning with ⟨sp-⟩, it took an ⟨e-⟩ in Old French…
estoner
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *extonō (“to stun”), a form of Latin attonō (“to strike with thunder; to stun”) in which the prefix was changed to ex- (“out”). The classical verb is formed on tonō…
estrangier
It is formed from Old French estrange + -ier, and estrange "foreign, strange" is from Latin extrāneus (“external, foreign”). The FEW lists the word among the derivatives of the Latin word, as in…
estreindre
It is inherited from Latin stringō (“to bind fast, tighten; to strip off”). The Latin verb, with the past participle strictus, belongs to the family of strigilis (“scraper”). Wiktionary traces the…
extreme
It is borrowed from Latin extrēmus (“outermost, last”). The Latin adjective is the superlative of exter (“outer”), formed with the suffix of postrēmus and suprēmus from earlier *extrezmo-…
fable
It is borrowed from Latin fābula (“talk; story”). The Latin noun is formed from the root of for (“to speak”) with the suffix -bula. The DHLF calls the French word a half-borrowing, and Bloch and…
feble
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *fēbelis, from Latin flēbilis (“lamentable, to be wept over”), whose first /l/ was lost by dissimilation. The Latin adjective is formed from fleō (“to weep”) with…
final
It is borrowed from Late Latin fīnālis (“at the end”), formed on fīnis (“end; boundary”) with the suffix -ālis. In Latin it first meant “of boundaries”, and the sense “final” appears in…
fol
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…
forgier
It is inherited from Latin fabricō (“to fashion, forge”). Gamillscheg starts from a Vulgar Latin active verb in place of the classical deponent fabricor. The Latin verb is formed from fabrica…
fortune
It is borrowed from Latin fortūna (“chance, fate; good luck”). The Latin word is related to fors (“chance”). The REW lists the Romance forms, such as Italian fortuna, and notes that the word spread…
front
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…