dent (French)

Where does "dent" come from?

The French noun 'dent' meaning 'tooth' or 'cog' is inherited through Middle French 'dent'[1] and Old French 'dent'[4] from the Latin accusative form 'dentem'[1], derived from 'dēns'[4]. Going further back, Latin 'dēns' stems from Proto-Indo-European '*h₃dénts'[1], which is ultimately built from the root '*h₃ed-' meaning 'to bite' combined with a participle suffix[5]. Along the way, the word underwent a gender shift from masculine in Old French to feminine in Middle and modern French[1].

Open questions

The Proto-Indo-European form is usually reconstructed with an initial h1, though evidence like Armenian and Greek points instead to h3. [5]

Full etymology tree

dent (French), 'tooth'
- inherited dent (Middle French), 'tooth'
  - inherited dent (Old French), 'tooth'
    - inherited dens (Latin), 'a tooth'
      - inherited *dents (Proto-Italic), 'tooth'
        inherited *h₃dn̥t-s (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived *h₃dónts (Proto-Indo-European), 'tooth'
        suffix *h₃ed- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to smell, stink'
        suffix *-ónts (Proto-Indo-European), 'Derives nouns denoting body parts.'

Ancestors

dent (Middle French)
dent (Old French)
dens (Latin)
*h₃dónts (Proto-Indo-European)

Descendants and derived words

dentiste (French)
à belles dents (French)
à cheval donné on ne regarde pas les dents (French)
à pleines dents (French)
armé jusqu'aux dents (French)
avoir la dent (French)
avoir la dent creuse (French)
avoir les dents du fond qui baignent (French)
avoir les dents longues (French)
avoir les dents qui rayent le parquet (French)
avoir une dent contre (French)
brosse à dents (French)

Sources

Updated October 2026

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