bonjour
/bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/
interjection
Origin
French
bon + jour — good day
Overview
Meaning Now
- A standard French greeting used during the day, meaning 'good day' or 'hello'.
Literal older meaning
good day
Language path
Latin → Old French → French
Earliest form
bon jour
Earliest period
12th century
Journey
The word evolved from a well-wishing phrase 'je vous souhaite un bon jour' (I wish you a good day) into a fixed, idiomatic greeting. It reflects the medieval trend of combining adjectives and nouns to create conventionalized social markers.
Evolution
- Latin
bonus diurnus
“good day”
- Old French
bon jour
“good day”
originally a phrase indicating a wish for a good day
- Middle French
bonjour
“hello”
transition from phrase to formulaic greeting
Connections
Word parts
bon
root
good
jour
root
day
Related across languages
Occitan
bonjorn
good day
Italian
buongiorno
good day
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Related to bonjour
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.