lutin

French

Etymology

From earlier luitin, a variation (with change of suffix) of luiton, itself an alteration (probably after Old French luitier (“to fight”)) of nuiton, which itself was an alteration (after nuit (“night”)) of netun, from Latin Neptunus (“Neptune”). Doublet of Neptune. The semantic shift from the Greco-Roman god in particular originates from him being reconceived as a demon (and his name thus being genericized) during the Christianization of Gaul.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ly.tɛ̃/

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Noun

lutin m (plural lutins)

1. imp, elf, pixie

Further reading

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