jouer (French)
Where does "jouer" come from?
The French verb 'jouer' traces its origins back to the Latin 'iocārī', which meant to joke or jest. This term eventually evolved into the Old French 'joer' before settling into its modern form, expanding its meaning from simple playfulness to encompass a wide array of activities including games, music, and performance.
Full etymology tree
- jouer (French), 'to play (engage in games or play)'
- inherited joer (Old French), 'to play'
- inherited iocārī (Latin), 'present active infinitive of iocor'
- derived iocus (Latin), 'a joke, jest'
- inherited *jokos (Proto-Italic), 'utterance'
- inherited *yek- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to utter'
- inherited *jokos (Proto-Italic), 'utterance'
- derived iocus (Latin), 'a joke, jest'
- inherited iocārī (Latin), 'present active infinitive of iocor'
- inherited joer (Old French), 'to play'
Ancestors
- joer (Old French)
- iocor (Latin)
Descendants and derived words
- jeu (French)
- bien joué (French)
- carte à jouer (French)
- c'est quand le jeu devient dur que les durs commencent à jouer (French)
- déjouer (French)
- et le tour est joué (French)
- jouable (French)
- jouer au chat et à la souris (French)
- jouer avec le feu (French)
- jouer cartes sur table (French)
- jouer des coudes (French)
- jouer gros jeu (French)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris