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bientôt

Etymology and origin of the French word bientôt

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
14th century (bien tost)
Ultimate origins
Latin (bene)French (tôt)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin bene
French bien
French bientôt

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bjɛ̃.to/[1]

Forms

bientôt[1] Written bien tost until the two parts were joined in the 17th century (1636 in Rey, 1643 in the Grand Robert); a 15th-century text has bientoust.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from French bien + tôt, first the adverbial phrase “bien tost” (about 1380), in which “bien” strengthened “tôt”.[2][4][5][6] Old French tost continues popular Latin Vulgar Latin tostum, the neuter of Latin tostus (“roasted, burnt”) used as an adverb; it must first have meant “hotly”, then “promptly”.[4]

Littré gives Burgundian “betô”.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the 14th-century Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin bien tost means “very quickly”: Car par eux les fossez furent bien tost emplis (“for the ditches were very quickly filled by them”).[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Bien tost first heightened the old sense of tôt, “promptly”, with no idea of the future, a use kept in literary French (il eut bientôt fait de…).[2][8] The usual modern sense, “in the near future”, appears in 1538, generally with a future or conditional verb.[2] Bientôt après is found in the 14th century but recorded by dictionaries only in 1835.[2]

À bientôt, the parting formula, dates from 1835, Littré still called it a neologism.[2][7]

Timeline

  • 14th century – Bien tost “very quickly”.[7][5]
  • 1538 – “In the near future”.[2]
  • 1636 – The joined spelling bientôt.[2]
  • 1835 – À bientôt, bientôt après in dictionaries.[2]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. soon, shortly: nous reviendrons bientôt.[8][9]
  2. Nearly (of a time): il est bientôt minuit.[8]
  3. À bientôt: see you soon.[8][9]
  4. (familiar) C'est pour bientôt ?: is it going to happen soon? (impatiently).[10][8]
  5. (literary) Quickly, in a short time: il eut bientôt fini.[8][5]
  6. Cela est bientôt dit: that is easier said than done.[9][7]
  • tôt
  • bien
  • aussitôt
  • sitôt
  • tantôt
  • plutôt

Usage notes

Bientôt is not to be confused with bien tôt “very early”: vous arrivez bien tôt ce matin.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 120b
  7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Bientôt.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/bient%C3%B4t. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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