Etymograph

English

soleil

Soleil comes from French soleil ‘sun (star)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sóh₂wl̥‘sun’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsōl‘sun’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*sōliculusreconstructeddiminutive of sōl
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400soleil‘sun (star)’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘sun (star)’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘sun (star)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1967same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sóh₂wl̥‘sun’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsōl‘sun’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*sōliculusreconstructeddiminutive of sōl
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400soleil‘sun (star)’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘sun (star)’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘sun (star)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1967same form

Earliest quotation: 1967, Kenneth Horne, Bona Bijou Tourettes (Round the Horne): “Divine. ... Disporting yourself on the sable plage getting…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ ‘sun’

sun, southern, helium, parasol, 5 more

through Latin sōl ‘sun’

solar, sol, solano, 7 more

Today it means

noun sun

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ / soleil

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