English
ombre
Ombre comes from French hombre ‘a kind of card game from Spain’, from Spanish hombre ‘man,’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeǵʰ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeǵʰ-1uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéǵʰōm1‘earth’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰmṓ1‘human’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hemō1‘man’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhemō1
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhomō1‘human, person, man’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhominem1
- Old Spanishc. 950–1500omne1‘man’
- Spanishc. 1500–presenthombre1‘man,’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenthombre1‘a kind of card game from Spain’
- Englishearliest quotation 1712ombre1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English ombre
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1712, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Locke. An Heroi-comical Poem.: “Belinda now, whom chirst of fame invites, / Burns…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeǵʰ-Wiktionary, English ombreuncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéǵʰōmWiktionary, English ombre‘earth’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰmṓWiktionary, English ombre‘human’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hemōWiktionary, English ombre‘man’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhemōWiktionary, English ombre
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhomōWiktionary, English ombre‘human, person, man’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhominemWiktionary, English ombre
- Old Spanishc. 950–1500omneWiktionary, English ombre‘man’
- Spanishc. 1500–presenthombreWiktionary, English ombre‘man,’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenthombreWiktionary, English ombre‘a kind of card game from Spain’
- Englishearliest quotation 1712ombreWiktionary, English ombre. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1712, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Locke. An Heroi-comical Poem.: “Belinda now, whom chirst of fame invites, / Burns…”
The story
Borrowed from French hombre, from Spanish hombre, literally, a man, from Latin homō.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ ‘human’
through Proto-Italic *hemō ‘man’
inhumane, humanely, inhumanity, 7 more
through Latin hemō
humanity, humane, inhuman, homophobia, humanoid, 10 more
through Latin homō ‘human, person, man’
Another origin of ombre
- Frenchc. 1600–presentombré‘shaded’
- Englishtodayombre
Today it means
noun A Spanish card game, usually played by three people. It involves forty cards, omitting the ranks of 8, 9 and 10.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “ombre”. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeǵʰ- / ombre