hâte

Forms

hâte f (plural hâtes)^[1] Old and Middle French haste; the modern spelling with ⟨â⟩ is found from the 16th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French haste, borrowed from Frankish *haist (“violence, vehemence”).^{[3][2][4][5][6]} The Frankish word is reconstructed from a Gothic word for “dispute” and Old High German heisti (“violent”).^[3][2][1] Gallo-Romance took it over very early, without its ⟨i⟩.^[3][2]

German Hast “haste” is borrowed from the French word.^[3][2][7] Littré, by contrast, derived the French word from German and compared Old Norse.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1135 in the phrase en haste “hastily”, in the Couronnement de Louis; the noun alone, meaning “eagerness, hurry”, is in Chrétien de Troyes's Erec et Enide (1165–1170).^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense of hurry and eagerness.^[2][3] From the adverbial en hâte came a haste (mid-15th century) and then à la hâte “as quickly as possible” (1538), and avoir hâte de “to be eager to” is recorded by Robert Estienne in 1538.^[2][3] Avoir hâte à “to look forward to” is more usual in Quebec.^[2]

The verb hâter is recorded earlier than the noun, in the Chanson de Roland (1080), as is the adjective hâtif.^[2][7]

Timeline

• c. 1135 – En haste “hastily” in the Couronnement de Louis.^[3][2]
• 1165–1170 – Haste “eagerness, hurry” in Chrétien's Erec et Enide.^[3]
• 1456–1467 – A haste “quickly” in the Cent Nouvelles nouvelles.^[3]
• 1538 – Estienne records à la hâte and avoir hâte de.^[3][9]
• 16th century – The spelling hâte appears.^[2]
• 1866 – Littré records avoir grande hâte.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Great haste or eagerness in doing something; hurry: mettre trop de hâte à répondre.^[4][3]
2. Avoir hâte, n'avoir qu'une hâte: to be in a hurry, to be impatient: elle avait hâte de partir.^[4]
3. Sans hâte: calmly, taking one's time.^[4]
4. En hâte, en toute hâte: promptly, quickly.^[4][8]
5. À la hâte: hurriedly, with precipitation: un repas pris à la hâte.^[8][3]
6. (Quebec) Avoir hâte à: to look forward to: j'ai hâte à vendredi.^[2]

Word family

• hâter
• hâtif

Usage notes

Littré gives the proverb mieux vaut bonne attente que mauvaise hâte.^[8] A separate, archaic hâte (Old French haste) meant a roasting spit (about 1210) and a piece of roast meat (12th century); the Robert dictionaries explain it as Latin hasta “spear” crossed with Frankish *harst “gridiron”, and Littré as a use of haste “spear” by likeness of shape.^{[10][4][5][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 j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 123b
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert