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doute

Etymology and origin of the French word doute

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (dute)
Ultimate origin
Latin (dubitō)

Pronunciation

Forms

doute m (plural doutes)[1] Old French dute, dote; the spelling doubte was used in Middle French, though Palsgrave notes that it was pronounced doute.[2][3][1] The word was usually feminine until the 16th century.[4][5][3]

Etymology

It is a noun formed from the verb douter.[2][6][5][1] “Douter” is inherited from Latin dubitō (“to hesitate, be uncertain”), derived from dubius (“wavering”), from duo (“two”); in Late Latin it also meant “to fear”.[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis (grant dute), meaning “fear”, the usual sense of the verb in Old French.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “fear” was frequent in the Middle Ages and was later taken over by redouter.[7][5] The modern sense “hesitation, uncertainty” is in Wace (1155, estre en dote), and a nuance of suspicion or mistrust appears at the end of the 15th century (Commynes, mille doubte).[2][7]

Sans doute meant “certainly” in the 13th century, “granted” about 1464, and only from 1665 “probably”, its usual modern sense.[7] Descartes made it a philosophical term in 1637 (le doute méthodique).[2][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Dute “fear” in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • 1155 – “Uncertainty”, in Wace.[2]
  • 13th century – Sans doute “certainly”.[7]
  • Late 15th century – “Suspicion”, in Commynes.[2]
  • 16th century – The masculine gender prevails.[3][4]
  • 1637 – Philosophical doubt, in Descartes.[2]
  • 1665 – Sans doute “probably”.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. doubt, uncertainty: être dans le doute, dans le doute, abstiens-toi.[8][9]
  2. Mettre en doute: to question, hors de doute: certain.[4][8]
  3. A suspicion, misgiving: j'ai des doutes sur sa sincérité.[9]
  4. (philosophy) The suspension of judgement: le doute méthodique of Descartes.[4][9]
  5. Sans doute: probably, sans aucun doute: certainly.[7]
  • douter
  • douteux
  • redouter
  • dubitatif
  • indubitable

Usage notes

Sans doute now weakly means “probably”; to say “certainly” French uses sans aucun doute or nul doute.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Doute.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/doute. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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