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ajouter

Etymology and origin of the French word ajouter

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (ajoster)
Ultimate origin
Latin (iūxtā)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a.ʒu.te/[1]

Forms

ajouter[1] Old French ajoster, ajouster, ajuster, ajouter from the 13th century (1262).[2][3][4] Littré notes that Old French ajouster cannot be told apart from ajuster.[5]

Etymology

It is formed in from Old French a- + joster (“to bring together”).[2][4][6][7] The simple verb (compare jouter) is from Vulgar Latin *iūxtō (“to be adjoining; to bring together”), or from Old French “joste” “beside”, from iūxtā (“near, beside”).[2][3][8][6] Wiktionary instead derives it from Vulgar Latin *adiūxtō.[1]

Cognate with Old Occitan ajostar.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it means “to bring together, assemble”: Marsile quatre cent mille en ajustet en trois jours; the reflexive meant to join battle, Franz et payens as les vous ajustez.[5][4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it meant to put beside and in addition; the reflexive meant “to gather” and “to fight” (compare jouter), senses lost before the 16th century.[2][6] The modern sense “to put in addition” is also very old (1119).[2] Ajouter foi à “to give credence to” (12th century) is the only survival of the idea of joining.[2] Used with speech, “to say further”, it is in Calvin (1541).[9][4]

The prefixed rajouter gave familiar en rajouter “to overdo it” (20th century); the noun ajout (Gide, 1895) has replaced older ajoutée and ajoute.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Ajuster “to gather”, Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • 1119 – “To put in addition”.[2]
  • 12th century – Ajoster fei.[2]
  • 1262 – The spelling ajouter.[2]
  • 1541 – “To say further”, Calvin.[9]
  • 1895 – Ajout, Gide.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To add, put in addition: ajouter un étage à une maison, ajouter du sel.[8][1]
  2. To say further: il ajouta que…, je n'ai rien à ajouter.[8][4]
  3. Ajouter à: to increase, add to: cela ajoute à son charme.[8][5]
  4. Ajouter foi à: to believe, give credence to.[2]
  5. S'ajouter: to be added: à cela s'ajoute son mauvais caractère.[8]

Word family

  • ajout
  • rajouter
  • surajouter
  • ajoutage
  • jouter
  • jouxter
  • ajuster

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 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 d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 98a
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
Cite this entry

“Ajouter.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/ajouter. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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