chagrin (French)
Where does "chagrin" come from?
The French word "chagrin," meaning sorrow or grief, traces its roots back to the Frankish term *gram. This Germanic ancestor is related to the German word "Gram," carrying a similar sense of grief or distress. Over time, the word journeyed into French, evolving into "chagrin" with its current emotional sense.
Full etymology tree
- chagrin (French), 'sorrow, grief, chagrin'
- inherited from chagrin (Old French), 'painful, afflicted'
- inherited from *gram (gem)
- cognate gram (Old Norse), 'accusative/dative singular of gramr'
- inherited from *gram (gem)
- inherited from chagrin (Old French), 'painful, afflicted'
Descendants and derived words
- chagrin d'amour (French)
- noyer son chagrin (French)
- peau de chagrin (French)
Updated March 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris