orgueil

English

Etymology

In older uses, from Middle English orguile, from Old French orgueil, from Vulgar Latin *orgollium, from Proto-West Germanic *uʀgōllju, from Proto-Germanic *uzgōljō. (Compare Old English orgol, orgel (“pride”). For more, see or- (“out”) + Old English *gōl (“boast; showiness; pomp; splendor”) / English gale (“sing”).) Cognate with Old High German urguol, urguoli, urgilo (“pride”) and Spanish orgullo. In modern uses sometimes a fresh borrowing from French orgueil.

Noun

orgueil

1. (archaic) Pride.
   • 1893, Henry James, Essays in London and Elsewhere, page 145:

     Four times, with his orgueil, his love of magnificence, he condemned himself incongruously to the modern and familiar, groaning at every step over the horrible difficulty of reconciling "style " in such cases with truth and dialogue with surface.

   • 1926, Percy Mansell Jones, Verhaeren:

     Smet, in his second study of Verhaeren, [tries] to define the poet's attitude to Catholicism as one of Pride. It was his orgueil that weaned him from the faith and stood henceforth, an inexorable sentinel at the door of his heart, forbidding God to enter.

   • 1971, Roy Temple House, Books Abroad:

     Shaka has been betrayed by two of his generals, but they have merely succeeded in taking advantage of his orgueil, his pride, and his desire for omnipotence.

Related terms

• orgulous

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French orgueil, from Old French orgoil, from Vulgar Latin *orgollium, borrowed from Proto-West Germanic *uʀgōllju, from Proto-Germanic *uzgōljō. Cognate with Old High German urguol (“outstanding, distinguished”), Old Saxon urgôl (“outstanding, distinguished”), Old English orgel, orgello (“pride”). Compare Italian orgoglio, Spanish orgullo, Catalan orgull.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔʁ.ɡœj/

• Audio; “l'orgueil”:

  (file)

Noun

orgueil m (plural orgueils)

1. pride; pridefulness; haughtiness, arrogance

   Le revers a blessé son orgueil.

   The misfortune hurt his pride.

   Je ne prendrai pas de charité; j’ai mon orgueil.

   I won't take any charity; I still have my pride.

Usage notes

Unlike cognate terms in other languages (e.g. orgullo, orgull, orgoglio), orgueil chiefly carries the negative connotations of pride. The positive senses (related to self-esteem) are expressed by fierté.

Derived terms

• enorgueillir
• orgueilleux

Further reading

• “orgueil”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.