Who would've believed that ?
At the origin of the word
"chenapan"
, which means
"rascal"
or
"rogue"
, is the German word
"Schnapphahn"
, that is to say
"marauder"
.
When we say the word
"zombie"
, we are actually using a word from Haitian Creole which means
"revenant"
.
Words like
“spinach”
,
“fly”
,
“violin”
or even
“sentimental”
have multiple origins, from Persian to Italian to Gallic.
Our language is teeming with words that come to us from the four corners of the world, from the Russia of the Tsars to the empire of the Aztecs via the Silk Roads.
Some are thousands of years old, others recent.
And they all have in common that they have an origin that can surprise us.
To discover
Crosswords, Sudoku, 7 Letters... Keep your mind alert with Le Figaro Games
Such is the painstaking work carried out by the linguist Henriette Walter in her book
The adventure of French words from elsewhere
, published in 1997. Building on its success, this little erudite and accessible book was republished for the third time in 2023 published by Robert Laffont.
“We know well that French is a language descended from Latin, but we often forget that it has been enriched during its long history by contributions from the four corners of the world,” she introduces.
Because words have often traveled long distances before becoming established in French.”
Thanks to his passion for words and history, we learn one thing leading to another about the unexpected origins of words like
“tomato”
or
“pump”
.
Do you know the origin and etymology of these words?
Le Figaro
invites you to test your knowledge with this test.