Etymograph

English

lorgnette

Lorgnette comes from French lorgner ‘to take a sidelong look at’, and goes back to Middle French lorgne ‘crosseyed’.

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600lorgne1‘crosseyed’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentlorgner1‘to take a sidelong look at’
  3. French, derivedc. 1600–presentlorgnette1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1869lorgnette1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English lorgnette
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1869, Mark Twain: “In the valley, near the Acropolis, […] Athens itself…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600lorgneWiktionary, English lorgnette‘crosseyed’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentlorgnerWiktionary, English lorgnette‘to take a sidelong look at’
  3. French, derivedc. 1600–presentlorgnetteWiktionary, English lorgnette
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1869lorgnetteWiktionary, English lorgnette. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1869, Mark Twain: “In the valley, near the Acropolis, […] Athens itself…”

Every English word from Middle French lorgne

Today it means

noun An opera glass with a handle.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lorgnette”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle French lorgne / lorgnette

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