← All words
noun, masculine

ogre

/ɔɡʁ/

noun, masculine/ɔɡʁ/plural: ogres

ogre

Related: l'ogre de Corse, manger comme un ogre, ogrerie, ogresque

Inherited from Old French ogre, itself probably an alteration, with influence from words like bougre, of an earlier form *orc, from Latin Orcus (“the underworld; the god Pluto”), with metathesis. According to the Trésor de la langue française informatisé, first attested in the late 12th century meaning 'fierce non-Christian', and ca. 1300 meaning 'human-eating giant' (in fairy tales). Cognate with Old Spanish huerco (“the Devil”), Spanish huerco (“depressed man in the dark”), Italian orco (“ogre