appétit

Forms

appétit m (plural appétits)^[1] Old French apetit.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French apetit, borrowed from Latin appetītus (“desire, longing”),^{[2][4][3][5][1]} the action noun of appetō (“to seek to reach, approach”), formed from ad- and petō (“to make for, seek”).^[2][6][7] The Latin noun took its psychological sense when Cicero used it to render the Greek word for “impulse, desire”.^[2] The same verb lies behind pétition, répéter and appétence.^[2][7]

Cognate with Old Occitan apetit, Spanish apetito, Portuguese apetite and Italian appetito.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1180, meaning “desire” in general.^[2][6][4] A 13th-century medical text already uses it for hunger: Il ara petit appetit de mengier et grant talent de boire “He will have little appetite for eating and a great urge to drink”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century it chiefly meant desire of any kind, moral as well as bodily.^[4][6] That general value survives in un appétit, des appétits “passion, craving”, used in an erotic sense from 1636, and in the philosophical appétit concupiscible (1671).^[2][8]

From the middle of the 13th century the singular l'appétit, usually without a qualifier, came to mean the wish and pleasure of eating, its commonest sense today.^[2][9] With it came the greeting bon appétit ! (17th century), the phrases ouvrir l'appétit and appétit ouvert (1690), and the proverb l'appétit vient en mangeant (1534).^[2] In cooking les appétits are aromatic herbs, and in the north and west of France, from the Vendée to Poitou, the word names chives or young garlic.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1180 – Apetit “desire” is first recorded.^[2][3][6]
• mid-13th century – It means “desire for food”.^[2]
• c. 1260 – The learned adjective appétitif appears.^[2]
• 1393 – Appétissant “appetizing” is recorded.^[4][2]
• 1534 – The proverb l'appétit vient en mangeant is recorded.^[2]
• 1636 – It is used of sexual desire.^[2]
• 1671 – Appétit concupiscible appears in philosophy.^[2]
• 1690 – Appétit ouvert is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (often plural) A desire or urge that drives one to satisfy a bodily need or an instinct;^[9][10][11] appétit de: a keen craving for something: Il a un appétit de pouvoir sans limites.^[9][10][11]
2. (singular) Appetite, the wish and pleasure of eating: Le grand air donne de l'appétit.^[9][11][10]
3. Bon appétit !: the wish addressed to someone about to eat.^[10][6][2]
4. Appétit de loup: a voracious appetite, appétit d'oiseau: a very small one.^[10][6]
5. (regional, plural) Aromatic herbs, in western France chives.^[2]

Word family

• appétissant

Related words

• appéter
• appétence
• pétition
• Latin appetītus
• English appetite

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 r s t 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 35b
6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)