Etymologically
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coût

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Pronunciation

Forms

coût m (plural coûts)[1] Old French cust (1155), cost, coust (late 12th century; 1530, Palsgrave), coût (1636, Monet); cout in the 1990 spelling reform.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is the noun of coûter,[2][6][7][4] from Latin cōnstāre (“to stand firm, be settled”), whose sense “to cost” developed with complements of price.[7] Compare Old Occitan cost, Spanish and Italian costo.[8] Old French also had “coustance”, “coustange”, still used by Malherbe.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace's Brut (1155) has cust;[2] the Livre des Rois asks pur quei dunc te serreie à grief e à charge e à cust ?, why then should I be a burden and an expense to you?[8]

Semantic evolution

In classical French it meant an expense (La Fontaine's menus coûts), and it came to mean the cost price of a thing, especially in law and economics (coût de fabrication, coût de la vie).[3][6][9] In the 20th century it also took the figurative sense of the unpleasant consequence of a mistake (le coût d'une imprudence).[3][6] Related words are coûteux (about 1185), prix coûtant (1679) and surcoût (1978); à bas coût is the official replacement for English low cost.[6][5]

Timeline

  • 1155 – Cust in Wace.[2]
  • c. 1185 – Coûteux.[6]
  • 1530 – Coust in Palsgrave.[2]
  • 1636 – Coût in Monet.[3]
  • 1679 – Prix coûtant.[6]
  • 1978 – Surcoût.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The cost, price: le coût d'une marchandise, le coût de la vie.[9][1]
  2. (economics) Cost: coût de production, coût fixe, coût marginal, à bas coût: low-cost.[9][5]
  3. (figurative) The price, consequence: le coût d'une imprudence.[9][5]

Word family

  • surcoût

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  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