coutume

Forms

coutume f (plural coutumes)^[1] Old French custume (late 11th century), costume (about 1135); coustume in the 15th century, coutume from the 16th.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French custume, inherited from Latin cōnsuētūdō (“habit, way of acting of a people”) (accusative cōnsuētūdinem), through Vulgar Latin cosetudine.^{[5][2][4][6][7]} The ending developed as in amertume from amaritudinem.^[8] The Latin noun is formed on the supine of cōnsuēscō (“to grow accustomed”), from con- and suēscō (“to accustom”), which Rey places in a group from the Indo-European reflexive root also behind sœur and soi.^[2][3]

Cognate with Italian costume, Old Occitan cosdumna, Catalan costum, Spanish costumbre and Portuguese costume.^[9][8] It is a doublet of costume and of the learned consuétude.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) custume is a person's habitual way of acting.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

From the 12th century it also meant a way of acting fixed by use, to which most people conform (Wace, 1130–1140), and in law, early in the 12th century, the body of rules established by usage: custumes in the Laws of William the Conqueror.^[5][2] Customary law mattered greatly in medieval northern France, the south being a land of written Roman law, and Old and Middle French formed many derivatives from the word, of which only coutumier survives.^[2] In feudal use it also named certain tolls and taxes.^[8]

Since the 16th century it has competed with habitude in the sense “habit”, but lives on in phrases such as avoir coutume de (about 1170) and de coutume (1467), which in Canadian French has widened to “usually”.^[2][5] In the French of New Caledonia it names customary rites and ceremonies.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Custume “habitual way of acting” in the Chanson de Roland.^[5]
• early 12th century – Custumes “customary law” in the Laws of William the Conqueror.^[5]
• 1130–1140 – Wace uses costume for a usage most people follow.^[5]
• 1160–1174 – Avoir custume in Wace's Roman de Rou.^[5]
• 15th century – The form coustume.^[2]
• 1467 – De coustume “habitually”.^[5][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A custom, a way of acting established by usage that most members of a community follow: us et coutumes.^[10][3][1]
2. (law) Unwritten customary law, formed by usage and accepted as binding.^[5][10]
3. (historical) The customary law of a province, or a written collection of it: la coutume de Normandie.^[8][5]
4. A person's habit: avoir coutume de, comme de coutume.^[10][2]
5. (historical) A toll or tax due by custom.^[8]

Word family

• coutumier
• accoutumer
• désaccoutumer
• inaccoutumé
• raccoutumer

Related words

• costume
• consuétude
• désuétude
• Latin cōnsuētūdō

Usage notes

Avoir coutume de and de coutume are now more formal than habitude.^[2] In Canadian French de coutume means “usually”.^[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 l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c 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 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
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1091a
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert