French etymology in numbers

Borrowed, inherited or formed

Each entry counted once: as borrowed if its etymology names a language it was taken from, else as inherited, else as formed within French.

• Borrowed 33% · 723 taken from another language
• Inherited 39% · 854 passed down from an ancestor of French
• Formed in French 14% · 300 compounds and derivatives of its own words
• Not traced yet 14% · 303 no etymology links yet

Ultimate origins by language family

Where the 1,626 traced words end up when their etymologies are followed back as far as they go, from entry to entry, grouped into families and the branches of Indo-European.

1. Italic 1,216 · 75% Latin 974 · Proto-Italic 75 · Italian 57 · Old French 42 …
2. Indo-European 209 · 13% Proto-Indo-European 209
3. Hellenic 69 · 4% Ancient Greek 66 · Proto-Hellenic 2 · Byzantine Greek 1
4. Germanic 42 · 3% Proto-Germanic 8 · English 8 · Old English 6 · Middle Dutch 4 …
5. Afroasiatic 12 · 1% Arabic 10 · Biblical Hebrew 1 · Phoenician 1
6. Celtic 8 · 0% Gaulish 8
7. Turkic 3 · 0% Turkish 2 · Ottoman Turkish 1
8. Balto-Slavic 1 · 0% Czech 1
9. Indo-Iranian 1 · 0% Hindi 1
10. Unclassified 65 · 4% Frankish 52 · Pre-Greek 8 · Lombardic 2 · Tupi 1 …

When the words arrived

The 2,178 entries with a first-attestation date, by century and by the language each was borrowed from.

• Latin
• Italian
• Frankish
• English
• Occitan
• Other borrowings
• Inherited or formed
• Not traced

Words other languages took from French

2,872 entries of other languages in this dictionary were borrowed from French or its earlier stages.

1. English 2,690 pike, mole, poop, gill
2. Italian 91 borsa, radio, schifo, rotta
3. German 61 kosten, Ball, Dame, passen
4. Dutch 22 mijn, net, kant, orde
5. Latin 8 hercia, avantagium, garcio, inquesta

Most prolific roots

The words that the most French entries go back to, at the far end of their etymologies.

1. 7 Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-e/o- → droit, règle, direct, surgir …
2. 3 Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-e/o- → action, agent, agir
3. 3 Latin *passo → passer, passe, passé
4. 3 Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ → tu, toi, te
5. 3 Proto-Indo-European *uid-eh₁- → voir, vue, revue
6. 3 Proto-Italic *wīno- → vin, vigne, vignette
7. 3 Latin ille → le, leur, elle
8. 2 Frankish *blettjan → blesser, blessé
9. 2 Latin *crito → crier, cri
10. 2 Latin *directio → dresser, adresser
11. 2 Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰ(e)mōn → homme, on
12. 2 Proto-Italic *fak-i- → faire, affaire
13. 2 Latin *fallio → falloir, faillir
14. 2 Latin *fimo → fumer, fumée
15. 2 Proto-Italic *forkti- → fort, force

Longest journeys

The French words whose etymologies pass through the most languages, followed from entry to entry.

1. bar 5 languages

   English bar ← Middle Dutch baerse ← Ancient Greek βάρος ← Ancient Greek βαρύς ← Proto-Hellenic *gʷarus ← Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us

2. court 5 languages

   Old French curt ← Latin curtus ← English court ← Middle English curt ← Anglo-Norman curt ← Old French cort

3. net 5 languages

   Latin nitidus ← English net ← Middle English nett ← Old English net ← Middle English net ← Old French net

4. somme 4 languages

   Latin summa ← Old French some ← Latin sauma ← Old French somme ← Latin somnus ← Proto-Italic *swepnos ← Proto-Indo-European *swépnos

5. son 4 languages

   Old French son ← Latin suus ← Old French suen ← Latin sonus ← Proto-Italic *swonos ← Proto-Indo-European *swónh₂os

6. tour 4 languages

   Old French tur ← Latin turris ← Old French tor ← Latin tornus ← Ancient Greek τόρνος ← Proto-Indo-European *tórh₁nos

7. brûler 4 languages

   Old French bruller ← Latin ustulo ← Latin uro ← Proto-Italic *ouse/o- ← Proto-Indo-European *h₁éws-e/o-

8. droit 4 languages

   Old French dreit ← Latin directus ← Latin dirigo ← Proto-Italic *reg-e/o- ← Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-e/o-

9. forêt 4 languages

   Old French forest ← Latin forestis ← Latin foris ← Proto-Italic *fwor-i- ← Proto-Indo-European *dʰuō̆r-

10. mêler 4 languages

    Old French mesler ← Latin misculo ← Latin misceo ← Proto-Italic *mik-sk-e/o- ← Proto-Indo-European *miḱ-sk-e/o-