Many words commonly used by our ancestors are hardly used today. Can you guess what they might mean?
Old French was spoken between about the 9th century and the middle of the 14th century. It is difficult to give a precise figure for the number of words in Old French, as the language has evolved and developed over time, and many words have been lost or changed form. However, it is estimated that Old French had several tens of thousands of words, although this figure varies according to sources and estimates.
Old French ceased to be used from the middle of the 14th century, gradually being replaced by Middle French, which is considered an intermediate stage between Old French and Modern French. Middle French was spoken from the mid-14th century until the end of the 16th century, before evolving into Modern French, the language we know today.
Today we invite you to play with words and try to become what these words frequently used in the past and much less used today could designate. Some come from Old French, others from Middle French and the last from Modern French but have gone out of fashion.