A history of the English Language

165.
Reinforcement through French.
It is not always possible to say whether a word borrowed at this time was taken over 
directly from Latin or indirectly through French, for the same wholesale enrichment was 
going on in French simultaneously and the same words were being introduced in both 
lan-guages. Often the two streams of influence must have merged. But that English 
borrowed many words from Latin firsthand is indicated in a number of ways. The word 
fact
represents the Latin 
factum
and not the French 
fait,
which was taken into English 
earlier as
 feat
. Many verbs like 
confiscate, congratulate,
and 
exonerate
are formed from 
the Latin participle (
confiscat-us,
etc.) and not from the French 
confisquer, congratuler, 
exonerer,
which are derived from the infmitives 
confiscare,
etc. Caxton has the form 
confisk,
which is from French, but the word did not survive in this shape. The form 
prejudicate
is from Latin while 
prejudge
represents the French 
prejuger
. In the same way 
instruct
and 
subtract
show their Latin ancestry 
(instructus, subtractus)
since the French 
instruire
and 
subtraire
would have become in English 
instroy
(like 
destroy
) and 
subtray
(which is found in the fifteenth century). Our word 
conjugation
is probably a direct 
importation from Latin 
(conjugation-em)
since the more usual form in French was 
conjugaison
. Sometimes the occurrence of a word in English earlier than in French (e.g., 
obtuse
) points to the direct adoption from Latin, as do words like 
confidence, confident,
which are expressed in French by the forms 
confiance, confiant,
but which in English are 
used in senses that the French forms do not have. 
There still remain, however, a good many words that might equally well have come 
into English from Latin or French. Verbs like 
consist
and 
explore
could come either from 
the Latin 
consistere
and 
explorare
or the French 
consister
and 
explorer
.
 Conformation, 
The renaissance, 1500-1650 211

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conflagration,
and many other similar nouns may represent either Latin 
conformation-em, 
conflagration-em,
or French 
conformation, conflagration
. It is so with words like
 fidelity, 
ingenuity, proclivity,
where the Latin 
fidelitat-em
developed into French 
fidélité,
but 
English possessed so many words of this kind from French that it could easily have 
formed others on the same pattern. So adjectives like 
affable, audible, jovial
may 
represent the Latin 
affabilis
or the French 
affable,
etc., and others like 
consequent, 
modest, sublime
can have come equally well from the Latin or the French forms. It is 
really not important which language was the direct source of the English words because 
in either case they are ultimately of Latin origin. In many cases French may have offered 
a precedent for introducing the Latin words into English and may have assisted in their 
general adoption.