carreau (French)
Where does "carreau" come from?
The French word 'carreau' originates from the Latin word 'quadrus,' meaning square, which evolved into the Vulgar Latin term 'quadrellus.' This term traveled into Old French as 'quarel' and eventually settled into modern French, gathering a wide array of meanings along the way, ranging from geometric shapes and playing cards to floor tiles and even windowpanes. Each of these diverse definitions stems from the original concept of a square or four-sided object.
Full etymology tree
- carreau (French), 'square (as a geometrical shape)'
- inherited quarel (Old French), 'square block of stone'
- inherited *quadrellus (Vulgar Latin)
- derived quādrus (Latin), 'square'
- derived quādrō (Latin), 'to make four-cornered, square, make square'
- derived quattuor (Latin), 'four; 4'
- inherited *kʷettwōr (Proto-Italic), 'four'
- inherited *kʷetwṓr (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *kʷettwōr (Proto-Italic), 'four'
- derived quattuor (Latin), 'four; 4'
- derived quādrō (Latin), 'to make four-cornered, square, make square'
- derived quādrus (Latin), 'square'
- inherited *quadrellus (Vulgar Latin)
- inherited quarel (Old French), 'square block of stone'
Ancestors
- quarel (Old French)
- quadrus (Latin)
Cognates and doublets
- quadrello (Italian)
- cuadrillo (Spanish)
Descendants and derived words
- carreau (English)
- se tenir à carreau (French)
- sur le carreau (French)
- Karo (German)
- karo (Polish)
- karo (Polish)
- karo (Polish)
- carou (Romanian)
- karo (Turkish)
- ca-rô (Vietnamese)
- ca-rô (Vietnamese)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris