Etymologically
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été

Etymology and origin of the French word été

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (ested)
Inherited from
Latin aestas via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (aestās)

Pronunciation

Forms

été m (plural étés)[1] Old French ested, estet (about 1100), esté (about 1140); été from the 17th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French esté, inherited from Latin aestās (“summer”), from its accusative “aestātem”.[2][4][5][3][6][1] The Latin word seems to come by haplology from “*aestitās” and belongs to the root “*aidh-” “to burn” (Wiktionary's Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰ-), as do aestus (“heat”) and the words behind édifier, estuaire and éther.[4][7][1] The Latin noun was feminine, French made it masculine, probably after printemps and the other names of seasons.[2][4][5]

“Été” prevails in the north of Gallo-Romance; south of a line from the Gironde estuary to the Hautes-Alpes the dialects have “estiou”, Old Occitan estiu, from popular Latin Vulgar Latin *aestīvum (“tempus”), like Spanish estío and Portuguese estio.[5] Compare Italian estate and Catalan estiu.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it is the season of summer: Ço est en mai, al premer jur d'ested “it is in May, on the first day of summer”, and blancs cume flur en estet “white as a flower in summer”.[2]

Semantic evolution

L'été de la Saint-Martin (1721, été Saint-Martin, 1611) is a spell of fine weather in autumn; in Quebec a similar period is l'été des Indiens (1924) or l'été indien, formerly été des sauvages (1878).[4] Figuratively, in a literary and somewhat archaic style, it is the prime of life (l'été de la vie), isolated in the 16th century and then from the 18th.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Ested, Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1140 – Esté, Gaimar.[2]
  • 1611 – Été Saint-Martin.[4]
  • 17th century – Spelt été.[3]
  • 1878 – Été des sauvages in Canada.[4]
  • 1924 – Été des Indiens.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. summer, the season between spring and autumn, from the June solstice to the September equinox in the northern hemisphere: en été, vacances d'été.[7][2]
  2. L'été de la Saint-Martin, (Quebec) l'été indien: a spell of fine weather in autumn, an Indian summer.[4][8]
  3. (literary) The prime of life: l'été de la vie.[4]
  • estival
  • estivant
  • estiver
  • Latin aestās

Usage notes

Été is also the past participle of être, which Littré gives a separate article; it has nothing to do with the season.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 229b
  7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Été.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/%C3%A9t%C3%A9. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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