Etymologically
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bout

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Pronunciation

Forms

bout m (plural bouts)[1]

Etymology

It is a noun formed on the Old French verb bouter (“to strike, push; to put”) (see bouter).[2][3][4][5][6][1] That verb comes from Frankish *bōtan (“to strike”), Bloch and Wartburg compare Old Norse bauta (“to strike”), the Petit Robert Middle High German “bôzen” “to knock”.[4][5] The Germanic word passed rather late into Gallo-Romance, so that its intervocalic “t” was kept; Italian buttare and Spanish botar come from French.[4]

The modern sense, “end of an object” (1180–1200), may be a metonymy like those behind “pousse” and “pointe”, with the movement lost: the point where a thing thrusts out.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1121 in the sense “blow”, kept in Old French; the sense “end” appears about 1180.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

After Old French bout lost the dynamic sense “blow”, and with the verb going out of use after the 16th century, no link with bouter was felt.[2] At sea it named the bow of a ship (1288), now only in phrases such as bout au vent.[2] Bout à bout, first “on equal terms” (1268–1271), took the sense “end to end” in 1573, à tout bout de champ dates from 1636, after à chaque bout de champ (14th century).[2]

From “end” came “piece, scrap” (un bout de pain) and many phrases: venir à bout de, être à bout, joindre les deux bouts, voir le bout du tunnel.[5][2] The derivative debout meant “end to end” in Old French and took its modern sense in 1530.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1121 – Bout “blow”.[3][2]
  • 1180–1200 – “End of an object”.[2]
  • 1288 – The bow of a ship.[2]
  • 1319 – Aboutir.[4]
  • 1573 – Bout à bout “end to end”.[2]
  • 1636 – À tout bout de champ.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The end, tip or extremity of something: le bout du nez, au bout de la rue.[5]
  2. The end of a period or process: au bout d'une heure, jusqu'au bout.[5]
  3. A piece, a bit: un bout de pain, un bout de papier.[5]
  4. Venir à bout de: to overcome, être à bout: to be exhausted, à bout portant: point-blank.[5]
  5. Bout à bout: end to end, à tout bout de champ: at every turn.[2]

Word family

  • bouter
  • boutade

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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 192b