The English name Charlemagne comes from a French phrase meaning what?

The English name Charlemagne comes from the French phrase meaning “Charles the Great.” The name ultimately reflects the Latin Carolus Magnus, a form used to describe Charles as an exceptionally important or powerful ruler.

Charlemagne’s personal name was Charles, represented in medieval Latin documents as Carolus or Karolus. In Old French, forms such as Charles le Magne and Carles li magnes developed; these gradually produced the familiar single-word form Charlemagne. The element “magne” derives from the Latin magnus, meaning “great.”

This meaning should not be confused with Charles Martel’s nickname, “the Hammer,” or with later royal epithets such as Charles the Bold or Charles the Wise. Charlemagne was also known as Charles I and Carolus Magnus. The “Great” title became increasingly associated with him after his reign, especially as writers remembered his conquests, reforms, and imperial coronation.