dégât

Forms

dégât m (plural dégâts)^[1] Old French degast.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Old French deguaster (“to lay waste”) (also degaster), first spelled degast.^[2][3][4] The verb, recorded about 1100, was formed on gâter after Latin dēvastō (“to lay waste”), which gave dévaster.^[2][3][5] The French verb goes back to vastō (“to lay waste”), its initial changed to /w/ under the influence of a Germanic stem seen in German wüst (“desolate”).^[5]

Littré instead analyses it as the prefix dé- with an intensive value and Old French gast, which had the same meaning, and compares Old Occitan deguais.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as degast about 1207, in an act of the Norman Exchequer, in a sense that is not clear.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In 1321 the plural named a part of a forest where the trees had been felled.^[3][7] The modern sense “ravage, devastation, pillage” appears about 1360 in Froissart, in the context of war, with the phrase faire dégast “to lay waste” (1538).^[3][7] In the 16th century it also meant “soiling” and, weakened, “squandering”: in classical French it named excessive and wasteful consumption, a sense still recorded by the Académie in 1878 and now gone.^[3][6]

Common in the singular from the 17th to the 19th century, it is today used almost only in the plural, with phrases such as limiter les dégâts “to avoid the worst” and the anti-alcohol slogan bonjour les dégâts.^[3][8]

Timeline

• c. 1207 – Degast appears in an act of the Norman Exchequer.^[2]
• 1321 – The plural names a felled part of a forest.^[3][5]
• c. 1360 – Froissart uses it for the ravages of war.^[3][7]
• 1538 – Faire dégast “to lay waste” is recorded.^[3]
• 16th century – It also means “soiling” and “squandering”.^[3]
• 1878 – The Académie still records the sense “wasteful consumption”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Damage caused by a violent cause, such as a storm, hail or an army: les dégâts de l'orage.^[8][2][6]
2. Any damage or deterioration: dégâts des eaux, water damage.^[7][8]
3. (figurative, familiar) Faire des dégâts: to have serious repercussions.^[7]
4. Limiter les dégâts: to avoid the worst.^[8][3]
5. (dated) Wasteful consumption of goods.^[6][3]

Related words

• gâter
• dévaster
• Latin dēvastō

Usage notes

The word is now used almost only in the plural; the singular survives in very literary usage.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert