Etymology and origin of the French word débit
débit1 sale, retail; flow, rate
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1565 Nouveau Coutumier général
- Ultimate origin
- Old Norse biti
Pronunciation
- /de.bi/[1]
Forms
débit m (plural débits)[1]
Etymology
The word for sale and flow is a deverbal noun from French débiter1 (“to cut up, to sell retail”).[2][3][4][5] That verb is formed from French dé- + bitte + -er, properly “to make bitts”, bitts being wooden posts on which cables are wound.[2][5][4] The noun for the post is from Old Norse biti (“crossbeam on a ship”);[4][1] Picoche considers the Old Norse word only a possible source and also names a Middle Low German verb meaning “to cut, split”.[6]
Littré, unsure, considered Latin dēbitum (“thing owed”) and dēputō, which a Latin commentator on Virgil's Georgics used of wine for sale, but found no link between “debt” and “sale”.[7]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first recorded in 1565, in the Nouveau Coutumier général, meaning “retail sale”;[2][8] Bloch and Wartburg cite vendre à débit.[4] Olivier de Serres wrote in the 16th century of le debit de fruicts et denrées “the sale of fruit and produce”.[7]
Semantic evolution
From the start the noun meant retail sale, then from 1666 also the more or less quick sale of goods sold retail.[2][5] By metonymy it came to name a shop that sells retail (1822), now chiefly in débit de boissons and débit de tabac;[2][5][9] the débitant was first a tobacconist.[4][2]
Following the verb, it also meant the act of telling something (before 1615), then from the 17th century a person's way of speaking or reciting, then the speed of speech.[2][9][4] The sense “cutting up of timber” is recorded from 1771 in the Trévoux dictionary (1754 according to the Petit Robert).[2][9] In 1838 the Académie recorded the quantity of a fluid delivered in a unit of time,[2][8] and the word was later applied to the number of people or vehicles a route can carry[10] and, in telecommunications, to bandwidth and bit rate.[1]
Timeline
- 1565 – First recorded meaning “retail sale”.[2][8]
- before 1615 – Étienne Pasquier uses it of the act of telling something.[2]
- 1666 – Furetière's Roman bourgeois uses it of the sale of goods sold retail.[2]
- 1730 – Débitant “keeper of a tobacco shop” appears.[2]
- 1771 – The Trévoux dictionary records the cutting up of timber.[2]
- 1822 – First used of a shop selling retail.[2][5]
- 1838 – The Académie records the sense “quantity of fluid delivered per unit of time”.[2][8]
Meanings
Noun
- The steady sale of goods by retail: Ce livre a un bon débit.[9][10][11]
- A shop selling retail, especially débit de tabac and débit de boissons (a bar or café).[9][11]
- The cutting up of timber into pieces: le débit d'un hêtre en poutres.[9][2]
- A way of speaking or reciting, delivery, and the speed of speech: Cet acteur a un débit très rapide.[9][10][11]
- The volume of a liquid or gas delivered in a unit of time, flow rate: le débit d'une rivière.[9][10][1]
- The number of people or vehicles, or the volume of goods, that a means of transport can carry.[10]
- (telecommunications) Bandwidth, bit rate.[1]
Word family
- débiter1
- débitant
débit2 debit side of an account
Etymology tree of débit2
From the same root · débit2
Pronunciation
- /de.bi/[1]
Forms
débit m (plural débits)[1]
Etymology
The word for the debit side of an account is borrowed from Latin dēbitum (“debt”), the neuter past participle of dēbeō (“to owe”) used as a noun.[2][5][3] Middle French already had debit (“debt”) in 1338.[2] The Latin plural dēbita gave dette, so the two are doublets.[5][1] Bloch and Wartburg date the word to 1723, in contrast with crédit.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first recorded as a bookkeeping term in 1675, in Jacques Savary's Le Parfait négociant.[2]
Semantic evolution
Unlike the Latin word, which also meant “obligation”, débit is only a term of accounting; the figurative sense is left to dette.[5] The denominal verb débiter2 “to enter on the debit side” is used from 1723; since every sale is a debt for the buyer, it is now felt to belong with the unrelated débiter “to sell”.[5][4]
Timeline
- 1338 – Middle French debit “debt” is recorded.[2]
- 1675 – Savary uses débit in bookkeeping.[2]
- 1723 – Débit as opposed to crédit, and the verb débiter “to debit”.[4][5]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
Usage notes
In débit the final ⟨t⟩ is silent, but Littré notes that it was sounded in liaison: un débit achalandé.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w 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
- ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
- ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
- ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Débit.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/d%C3%A9bit. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.
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