ôter

Forms

ôter^[1] Old French uster (about 987) and oster (1119); the spelling with the circumflex is recorded from 1636 (Monet).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French oster, inherited from Latin obstō (“to stand in the way, to hinder”), formed of ob (“before”) and stō (“to stand”).^[5][6][2][3] Intransitive in Classical Latin, the verb became transitive in Late Latin, “to keep someone from” (5th century), whence “to take away” (5th and again 9th century).^[5][2] Bloch and Wartburg point to Late Latin uses such as “to hinder someone” and “to hold a thing back”, from which the sense “to remove” could arise.^[7] Littré still found the step from “to hinder” to “to remove” hard to see, and gave Du Cange's attempt to bridge it with Late Latin examples.^[8]

Cognate with Old Occitan ostar.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) uses oster for taking one sum away from another; the pronominal uster is recorded earlier, about 987–989.^[5][2][3]

Semantic evolution

From subtracting a sum the verb widened to removing a part of a whole (about 1155) and, in Old French, also meant to put an end to something unwanted (about 1145) and to remove what dirties or hinders (early 14th century).^[5][2] From the 12th century it meant to remove an object from its place (1160–74), to take off a garment (about 1165) and to take away something moral or intellectual (1170), whence ôter à quelqu'un de l'esprit (1176–81, Chrétien de Troyes) and ôter la vie (1485), earlier ôter la vie du corps (about 1275).^[5][2]

The pronominal s'ôter “to leave one's place” is from about 1165, with ôte-toi de là (1604) and the off-hand ôte-toi de là que je m'y mette (1797, as a title).^[2][5] The past participle ôté was once used as a preposition, “except”.^[2] In France ôter is now felt as a regional and somewhat old-fashioned synonym of enlever.^[2][9]

Timeline

• c. 987 – The pronominal uster is recorded.^[2]
• 1119 – Philippe de Thaon's Comput uses oster for subtracting a sum.^[5][2]
• c. 1145 – Wace uses it for putting an end to something unwanted.^[5]
• c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for taking off what covers, and the pronominal “to leave one's place”.^[5]
• 1176–1181 – Chrétien de Troyes has ôter à quelqu'un de l'esprit.^[5][2]
• c. 1275 – Adenet has oster la vie du corps “to kill”.^[5][4]
• 1485 – Ôter la vie is recorded.^[2]
• 1636 – Monet spells it ôter.^[4]
• 1797 – Ôte-toi de là que je m'y mette appears as a title.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To remove an object from where it is: ôter les verres de la table.^[9][10]
2. To take off a garment or covering: ôter son manteau.^[9]
3. To get rid of what dirties or is in the way: ôter une tache.^[9]
4. To take away a part of a whole, to cut out: ôter la peau d'une pêche.^[9][1] In arithmetic, to subtract: ôter trois de huit.^[9][1]
5. To take something out of someone's reach or possession, to deprive: ôter la vie “to kill”.^[9] Ôter une idée de l'esprit de quelqu'un: to talk someone out of an idea.^[9]
6. (pronominal) S'ôter: to move out of the way.^[9][2] Ôte-toi de là que je m'y mette: said of someone who pushes others aside without ceremony.^[9][2]

Related words

• obstacle
• nonobstant
• Latin obstō

Usage notes

Ôter is less common than enlever, except in regional speech and some fixed phrases.^[9][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 287a
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)