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garantie

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Etymology and origin of the French word garantie

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1090s late 11th century, Rashi's glosses More words from the 11th century
Ultimate origin
Frankish *warjan
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French garantie
Romanian garanție

Pronunciation

  • /ɡa.ʁɑ̃.ti/[1]

Forms

garantie f (plural garanties)[1] Old French garantie, guarantie;[1][2] Littré also cites garentie and garandie.[1][2] Anglo-Norman forms include garauntie and warantie.[3]

Etymology

It is from French garantir (“to guarantee”), the feminine past participle of the verb used as a noun.[4][5][6] The verb is formed from garant (“guarantor”), which Bloch and Wartburg and the TLFi explain as the present participle of a lost Old French verb *garir, from Frankish *warjan (“to vouch for the truth of something”).[4][7][8] Bloch and Wartburg think that verb disappeared because it clashed with garir “to heal”, and compare German wahr (“true”).[7]

Littré gives the cognates Old Occitan garentia, Spanish garantía, Portuguese garantia and Italian guarentia, and notes the Old French synonyms garantise and garantison.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded at the end of the 11th century in the glosses of Rashi, meaning a pledge by which one answers for something, a surety.[4][5] About 1160 the Roman d'Eneas uses it in the sense “protection, defence”.[4][6]

Semantic evolution

Old French also had en avoir a garantie “to be certain of it” (about 1210).[4] Montaigne used the word figuratively for what is the pledge or assurance of something else (1580, 1588).[4][6]

Its legal senses grew from the 17th century: the guarantee due by the seller to the buyer is in the Civil Code of 1804,[4] while since 1789 the word has also meant legal provisions that protect certain rights.[4][6] The formula sans garantie du gouvernement, abbreviated S.G.D.G., is used for patents from 1872.[6][4] In Quebec sur la garantie corresponds to sous garantie in the French of Europe.[6]

English guaranty (1590s) was formed from garant under the influence of Old French garantie.[9]

Timeline

  • late 11th century – Rashi's glosses use garantie for a surety.[4][6]
  • c. 1160 – The Roman d'Eneas uses it for “protection, defence”.[4][6]
  • c. 1210 – En avoir a garantie means “to be sure of it”.[4]
  • 1588 – Montaigne uses it for what assures something else.[4]
  • 1690 – Furetière records it as a legal term.[5]
  • 1789 – Sieyès uses it for legal provisions protecting rights.[4][6]
  • 1804 – The Civil Code names the seller's guarantee to the buyer.[4]
  • 1872 – Sans garantie du gouvernement is recorded by Larousse.[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (law) An obligation to secure someone the enjoyment of a thing or a right, or to protect them against loss, and the liability that results from it: action en garantie.[10][2]
  2. A security, pledge or collateral given to a creditor.[10][4]
  3. A warranty or guarantee given by a seller or maker for the quality of goods: ma montre est encore sous garantie.[10][11][12]
  4. What ensures or vouches for something else: sa franchise est une garantie de sérieux.[4][12]
  5. (law) Legal provisions that protect certain rights.[4][6]
  • garant
  • garantir
  • Frankish *warjan
  • English warranty
  • English guaranty

Usage notes

Sans garantie du gouvernement (S.G.D.G.) was the formula printed with French patents.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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 c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 564a
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Garantie.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/garantie. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·