faux pas (English)
Where does "faux pas" come from?
The English term 'faux pas', meaning 'an embarrassing or tactless blunder', is an unadapted borrowing from French[1]. The phrase literally translates to 'false step'[1]. Its components reveal a deeper history, as the word 'faux' descends from the Latin 'falsus'[3], while 'pas' originates from the Latin 'passus'[2]. In its French context, 'pas' evolved from the literal sense of a step to an auxiliary negative marker, a shift stemming from constructions like 'nec passum' used to emphasize negative motion[2].
Open questions
- The development of 'pas' from a literal noun to a grammaticalized negative particle involves a historical shift in usage that is reconstructed based on linguistic patterns in older French. [2]
Full etymology tree
- faux pas (English), 'An embarrassing or tactless blunder.'
- borrowed faux pas (French), 'stumble, misstep, false step'
- compound faux (French), 'false; untrue'
- inherited faulx (Middle French), 'false; untrue'
- inherited fauz (Old French), 'scythe (cutting tool)'
- inherited falsus (Latin), 'deceived, tricked, cheated, disappointed, having been deceived'
- inherited fauz (Old French), 'scythe (cutting tool)'
- inherited faulx (Middle French), 'false; untrue'
- compound pas (French), 'step, pace, footstep'
- inherited pas (Old French), 'pace; step'
- inherited passus (Latin), 'spread out'
- inherited pas (Old French), 'pace; step'
- compound faux (French), 'false; untrue'
- borrowed faux pas (French), 'stumble, misstep, false step'
Ancestors
- faux pas (French)
Sources
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris