Etymology and origin of the French word débiter
débiter1 cut up, sell retail, reel off
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1330–1332 Guillaume de Digulleville, Pèlerinage de vie humaine
- Ultimate origin
- Old Norse biti
Pronunciation
- /de.bi.te/[1]
Forms
débiter[1]
Etymology
The verb for cutting up and selling is formed from French dé- + bitte + -er; the noun names the wooden post on which mooring cables are wound, so the verb properly meant “to make bitts” out of timber.[2][3][4][5][6] The noun is from Old Norse biti (“beam, crossbeam”).[4][1][7] The Grand Robert also cites Pierre Guiraud's view that the verb comes rather from an Old French derivative of the Old Norse word for “piece”, seen in a Norman bite (“cut stone”) (1508).[7]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first recorded in 1330–1332 in Guillaume de Digulleville's Pèlerinage de vie humaine, meaning “to cut wood into pieces”.[2][3]
Semantic evolution
From cutting wood the verb passed to cutting up any material for sale or use (1556), and then specialized in trade as “to sell retail” (1464).[2][3][4] About a century and a half later (before 1615) it took the figurative sense “to recount, recite”: at first it was not pejorative and went with an adverb saying whether one told a thing well or badly, and Furetière records débiter des nouvelles “to spread news”.[3][2] The modern sense “to reel off” is pejorative.[8]
In the 19th century it came to mean “to produce continuously”, especially of a flow of fluid (1838), and Littré records it for cutting up meat (1863).[2][3][9]
Timeline
- 1330–1332 – Guillaume de Digulleville uses it for cutting up wood.[2]
- 1464 – A Paris merchants' statute uses it for selling retail.[2][3]
- 1556 – The royal building accounts speak of débiter marble.[2]
- 1565 – The verbal noun débit “retail sale” appears.[4][2]
- Before 1615 – Étienne Pasquier uses it for “recount”.[2][3]
- 1730 – Débitant is recorded for a tobacconist.[2]
- 1838 – The Académie records “to deliver a quantity of fluid”.[2][3]
- 1863 – Littré records it for cutting up meat.[9][5]
Meanings
Verb
- To cut (wood, and by extension stone, meat or other material) into pieces ready for use: débiter un chêne en planches.[8][2]
- To sell retail, sell off goods steadily: débiter du café aux voyageurs.[8][2]
- (pejorative) To reel off, rattle off (commonplaces, nonsense, slanders): débiter des banalités.[8][1]
- To recite or deliver a speech or a part.[1][10]
- To produce or deliver continuously, especially a quantity of fluid per unit of time.[2][1]
Word family
- débit
- débitant
- débitage
- débitable
débiter2 debit
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1723
- Ultimate origin
- Latin dēbeō
Etymology tree of débiter2
From the same root · débiter2
Pronunciation
- /de.bi.te/[1]
Forms
débiter[1]
Etymology
The verb for debiting an account is formed from French débit + -er, from the noun for “debit”, the opposite of crédit.[7][8][1][3] That noun is from Latin dēbitum (“debt”), the neuter past participle of dēbeō (“to owe”), whose plural gave French dette.[4][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is recorded from 1723 for entering a sum on the debit side of an account.[7][4][3]
Semantic evolution
It has kept its book-keeping sense, “to charge a sum to someone's account”, and is the opposite of créditer.[8][10] Since every sale is a debt for the buyer, it is now felt as part of the family of débiter “to sell”, although its origin is different.[3]
Timeline
- 1675 – The noun débit “debit” is borrowed from Latin.[3]
- 1723 – Débiter “to debit” is recorded.[7][4][3]
Meanings
Verb
Related words
Usage notes
The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert number the verb “cut up, sell” 1 and the verb “debit” 2.[7][8] The derivative débitable is used both of a material that can be cut and of an account that can be debited.[2][8]
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 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 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
- ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 122a
- ^ a b c d e f 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 j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
- ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Débiter.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/d%C3%A9biter. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.
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