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gâter

Etymology and origin of the French word gâter

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland
Inherited from
Latin vasto via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (vastus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vastus
Latin vasto
French gâter

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡa.te/[1]
  • IPA: /ɡɑ.te/[1]

Forms

gâter[1] Old French guaster, gaster; spelt gâter from 1636 (Monet).[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French guaster, inherited from Latin vāstō (“to lay waste, depopulate; to ravage”),[3][4][5][6] from vāstus (“empty, desolate”),[4] whose initial was changed to /w/, and hence /g/, under the influence of a Germanic verb Frankish *wōstjan (“to lay waste”), seen in Old High German wuostan and German verwüsten.[3][4][5] Since the Romance forms all have ⟨g⟩, the FEW thinks the crossing is older than the Frankish period.[3] Littré allowed the Germanic word's influence but noted that it would rather have given “gastir”.[7]

Cognate with Italian guastare (“to lay waste; to spoil”), Old Occitan gastar and Spanish gastar (“to spend, wear out”).[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has Charles li magnes ad Espagne guastede “Charlemagne has laid Spain waste”.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to ravage, devastate” lasted until the 17th century,[5][8] and “to damage badly” (about 1200) until the 19th, surviving regionally and in African and Lebanese French (la télé est gâtée “the TV is broken”).[4][3] The reflexive se gâter “to go bad” (of fruit, meat) is in Estienne (1538), and the transitive sense “to spoil by rotting” is recorded in 1636.[3][4] Old French also had gaster “to waste (time, money)”, as in the Roman de la Rose.[7]

From 1530 (Palsgrave) the verb meant “to spoil (a child) by indulgence”, and, from the late 17th century “to pamper, shower with attentions”.[3][4] Lemaire de Belges (1511) uses it for corrupting the young.[9] Cela ne gâte rien “that does no harm” is in Voltaire.[2] The derivative gâteux (1835–1836), first hospital slang for an incontinent patient, came to mean “senile”.[4][5]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Guastede “laid waste” in the Chanson de Roland.[3]
  • c. 1200 – “To damage”.[3]
  • 1321 – Dégât.[5]
  • 1530 – “To spoil (a child)” in Palsgrave.[3]
  • 1538 – Se gâter “to go bad”.[3]
  • 1815 – Gâterie.[4]
  • 1835 – Gâteux in hospital slang.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To spoil, cause to rot: des fruits gâtés, une dent gâtée.[10][11]
  2. To spoil, mar; to deprive of its pleasant effects: gâter le plaisir, cela ne gâte rien.[10][2]
  3. To spoil (a child) by over-indulgence; to pamper, treat (someone) with gifts and attentions: un enfant gâté.[10][12]
  4. (regional, Africa) To damage, gâté: out of order.[4]
  5. (reflexive) To go bad; of weather or a situation, to take a turn for the worse.[1][4]
  6. (obsolete) To lay waste, ravage.[8][10]

Word family

  • gâterie
  • gâteux
  • dégât
  • gâte-sauce
  • gâtisme
  • gâtine
  • vaste
  • dévaster
  • English waste

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 202a
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Gâter.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/g%C3%A2ter. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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