English
La Rochelle
La Rochelle comes from Old French rochelle ‘diminutive of roche (“rock”)’, and goes back to Early Medieval Latin rocca.
- Early Medieval Latinmodernroccaearlier origin unknown
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400roche‘rock’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400rochelle‘diminutive of roche (“rock”)’literally ‘little rock’
- Englishearliest quotation 1997La Rochelle
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Early Medieval Latinmodernroccaearlier origin unknown
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400roche‘rock’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400rochelle‘diminutive of roche (“rock”)’literally ‘little rock’
- Englishearliest quotation 1997La Rochelle
Earliest quotation: 1997, Mark Kurlansky, Chapter 4: 1620: The Rock and the Cod: “The ships would leave Europe in April, when there…”
The story
Unadapted borrowing from French La Rochelle, from Old French rochelle (literally “little rock”).
Every English word from Early Medieval Latin rocca
Today it means
name A port city, the capital of Charente-Maritime department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, on the Bay of Biscay, formerly in Poitou-Charentes.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Early Medieval Latin rocca / La Rochelle