Etymologically
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davantage

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /da.vɑ̃.taʒ/[1]

Forms

davantage[1] Earlier d'avantage (from 1360), still frequent in the 16th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from French de + avantage, written as one word.[4][2][3][5] avantage is formed from avant, which continues Late Latin abante (“before”).[6] Bloch and Wartburg explain that it came in to replace plus at a time when popular speech was dropping the negative particle ne, which made the bare adverb sound like the negative “no more”, except where a following que made the comparison clear.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old French d'avantage had senses now gone: “without anything in return” (Gace Brulé, 1179–85), “in advance” (Froissart, 14th century) and “moreover” (Commynes, 15th century).[4] Froissart's perdus d'avantage is “utterly lost”.[5]

Semantic evolution

Palsgrave (1530) has it in the modern sense “in greater quantity”: il m'a cousté vingt livres et davantage “it cost me twenty pounds and more”.[4] D'avantage que “more than” is in Amyot (1559) and davantage de in Malherbe (1587); davantage “longer” is found in Scarron (1658) and Molière (1667).[4] The classical language also used it for “the most” and “moreover”, uses now archaic or literary.[3][7]

Timeline

  • 1179–85 – D'avantage “without return”, Gace Brulé.[4]
  • 1360 – D'avantage, Froissart.[2][3]
  • 1530 – “In greater quantity”, Palsgrave.[4]
  • 1559 – D'avantage que, Amyot.[4]
  • 1587 – Davantage de, Malherbe.[4]
  • 1658 – “Longer”, Scarron.[4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. More: il en voudrait davantage, bien davantage.[7][1]
  2. (dated) Longer: ne restez pas davantage.[7][3]
  3. (literary) The most: celui qui me plaît davantage.[7][3]
  4. Davantage de (with a noun): more, davantage que, more than.[4][7]
  5. (classical) Moreover.[3]

References

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