English
tuile
Tuile comes from French tuile ‘tile’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- ‘to cover’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-1‘to cover’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtēgula2‘a large, flat and heavy roof tile used in an overlapping formation with the curved and…’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tiule2‘tile’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenttuile3‘tile’
- Englishearliest quotation 2009tuile3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin tegula
- 2 Wiktionary, French tuile
- 3 Wiktionary, English tuile
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Elaine Sciolino, With Cowbells and Oxtails, Culinary Olympics Begin: “Finally, there was a grilled rib of beef in…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-Wiktionary, Latin tegula‘to cover’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtēgulaWiktionary, French tuile‘a large, flat and heavy roof tile used in an overlapping formation with the curved and…’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tiuleWiktionary, French tuile‘tile’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenttuileWiktionary, English tuile‘tile’
- Englishearliest quotation 2009tuileWiktionary, English tuile. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Elaine Sciolino, With Cowbells and Oxtails, Culinary Olympics Begin: “Finally, there was a grilled rib of beef in…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- ‘to cover’
detective, detection, detect, thug, sauna, toga, thatch, staccato, toque, 26 more
through Latin tēgula ‘a large, flat and heavy roof tile used in an…’
Today it means
noun A type of thin, papery cookie, often bent into fancy shapes and added as garnish to dishes or desserts.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “tuile”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin tegula, French tuile. 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 *(s)teg- / tuile