les (French)

Where does "les" come from?

The French article 'les' is an inherited word that traces its ancestry back through Middle French 'les' and Old French 'les'[1][2][3]. These earlier forms developed directly from the Latin accusative plurals 'illōs' (masculine) and 'illās' (feminine) of the word 'ille'[1]. Latin 'ille' itself originated from Old Latin forms like 'olle' or 'ollus', which trace further back to Proto-Italic and ultimately to the Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'beyond, other'[4].

Open questions

• The shift of the initial i from o lacks a parallel case and is attributed either to contamination from is and iste or to the palatalizing effect of l exilis. [4]

Full etymology tree

• les (French), 'plural of le: the'
  • inherited les (Middle French), 'the'
    • inherited les (Old French), 'the (feminine plural oblique definite article)'
      • inherited illos (Latin), 'accusative masculine plural of ille'
        • derived ille (Latin), 'that, yon; those'
          • derived olle (Latin), 'Old Latin form of ille'
            • derived *olnos (Proto-Italic), 'that'
              • derived *h₂ol-no-s (Proto-Indo-European)
                • derived *h₂el- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to grow, nourish'
              • derived *h₂l̥-no-s (Proto-Indo-European)
                • derived *h₂el- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to grow, nourish'
          • influenced by is (Latin), 'this or that man, woman or thing; he, she, it, they (previously introduced)'
          • influenced by iste (Latin), 'that (near you); those (in the plural)'
      • inherited illas (Latin), 'accusative feminine plural of ille'
        • derived ille (Latin), 'that, yon; those'
          • derived olle (Latin), 'Old Latin form of ille'
            • derived *olnos (Proto-Italic), 'that'
              • derived *h₂ol-no-s (Proto-Indo-European)
                • derived *h₂el- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to grow, nourish'
              • derived *h₂l̥-no-s (Proto-Indo-European)
                • derived *h₂el- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to grow, nourish'
          • influenced by is (Latin), 'this or that man, woman or thing; he, she, it, they (previously introduced)'
          • influenced by iste (Latin), 'that (near you); those (in the plural)'

Ancestors

• les (Middle French)
• les (Old French)
• illos (Latin)

Sources

1. les (French) - Wiktionary
2. les (Middle French) - Wiktionary
3. les (Old French) - Wiktionary
4. ille (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris