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battre

Etymology and origin of the French word battre

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
mid-11th century
Inherited from
Latin batto via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (battuō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /batʁ/[1]

Forms

battre[1] Old French batre.[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French batre, inherited from Late Latin battō, from earlier Latin battuō (“to beat, pound”).[2][3][4][5][1] The Latin word is rare in texts, Plautus uses it for striking someone in the face, and it was used of gladiators fencing.[2][3] It was probably above all a technical word, for threshing grain (middle of the 4th century) and striking coins and metal (7th–8th centuries), senses that passed into the Romance languages.[2][3] Though it resembles some Celtic words, its origin is unknown.[2][6]

Cognate with Italian battere, Occitan batre, Catalan batre, Spanish batir, Portuguese bater and Romanian bate.[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the middle of the 11th century, meaning “to strike repeatedly”; in the Chanson de Roland (1080) it is used of striking coins.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Technical senses date from Old French: battre monnaie (about 1190), beating metal at the forge (1250–1300), whence battre le fer tant qu'il est chaud.[2] In hunting battre les buissons (about 1155) gave “to search, scour”, and the figurative battre le pavé (1606) and battre la campagne.[2] With a person as object, “to beat (someone)” is from 1165–1170, “to defeat” from 1606, and battre un record from 1882, se battre “to fight” dates from 1607.[2]

With a thing as subject it meant “to strike against” and, of the heart, “to beat” (about 1165), and later of doors and shutters.[2] Battre son plein, said of the sea at high tide, is used figuratively from the middle of the 19th century.[2] Derivatives include battement (12th century), batterie (about 1200), batteur, battue (about 1500) and débattre (11th century).[3]

Timeline

  • Mid-11th century – First record.[4]
  • 1080 – Striking coins, in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1155 – Battre les buissons.[2]
  • c. 1165 – Of the heart, “to beat”.[2]
  • c. 1200 – Batterie.[3]
  • 1606 – “To defeat”, battre le pavé.[2]
  • 1607 – Se battre “to fight”.[2]
  • 1882 – Battre un record.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To beat, hit repeatedly: battre un tapis.[1][2]
  2. To beat (someone) up; to defeat: battre l'adversaire, battre un record.[1][2]
  3. Se battre: to fight.[1][2]
  4. (cooking) To whisk (eggs); (agriculture) to thresh.[1]
  5. (cards) To shuffle.[1]
  6. (intransitive) Of the heart, to beat; of a door, to bang.[2]
  7. Battre monnaie: to mint coins, battre la campagne: to scour the countryside; to ramble.[2]
  8. Battre son plein: to be in full swing.[2]

Word family

  • battement
  • batterie
  • batteur
  • battue
  • battant
  • batte
  • battage
  • battoir
  • abattre
  • combattre
  • débattre
  • rabattre
  • rebattre
  • courbatu

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 290b
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Battre.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/battre. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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