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cependant

Etymology and origin of the French word cependant

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 1278, Sept Sages (ce pendant)
Ultimate origins
Latin (*ecce iste)French (pendant)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French ce
French cependant
French ceci
French cela

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sə.pɑ̃.dɑ̃/[1]

Forms

cependant (adverb, conjunction)[1] Written ce pendant in Old and Middle French, and sometimes still in its temporal sense.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from French ce + pendant, the present participle of pendre, of which “ce” was at first the subject: “this being pending”.[2][3][4][5][1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1278, in the Sept Sages, ce pendant is an absolute participial phrase with a temporal value, in a legal context, “this being pending”, and then in general use.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Ce pendant que “while” is found in 1424 (the Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris); Vaugelas (1647) condemned cependant que in favour of pendant que, but it remained frequent in the 17th century and later.[2] The adversative sense, “nevertheless”, appears as an adverb in Calvin (1541) and as a conjunction in Montaigne (1580), and is now the usual one; the temporal sense “meanwhile” is literary.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1278 – Ce pendant, “this being pending”.[2]
  • 1424 – Ce pendant que.[2]
  • 1541 – Adversative adverb, Calvin.[2]
  • 1580 – Adversative conjunction, Montaigne.[2]
  • 1647 – Vaugelas condemns cependant que.[2]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. however, nevertheless, yet: l'autruche a des ailes, et cependant elle ne vole pas.[4][1]

Adverb

  1. (literary) meanwhile, in the meantime: je pourrai cependant te parler.[4][3]
  2. (literary) Cependant que: while, whereas.[4][2]

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 Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 181a
Cite this entry

“Cependant.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/cependant. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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