Etymologically
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huit

Etymology and origin of the French word huit

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 11th century, Laws of William the Conqueror (uit, oit)
Inherited from
Latin octo via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (octō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɥit/[1]
  • IPA (Quebec): [ɥɪt][1]
  • IPA (Belgium): [wit][1]
  • IPA: /ɥi/[1]

Forms

huit (invariable)[1] Old French oit (about 1130), uit, Middle French huyct, huict.[2][3][1] The ⟨h⟩ was added to avoid reading uit as vit, when ⟨u⟩ and ⟨v⟩ were one letter.[4][2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French uit, inherited from Latin octō (“eight”).[4][2][5][6] The ⟨h⟩, also seen in huile and huître, is purely graphic; that “huit” takes no liaison or elision (“le huit”) follows the general rule for numerals, as with un and onze, rather than an old aspirate.[4][5][1]

Cognate with Italian otto, Spanish ocho, Portuguese oito, Occitan uech, Catalan vuit and Romanian opt.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Laws of William the Conqueror (late 11th century) have uit and oit deners, Wace (1130–40) has oit.[8][4][9]

Semantic evolution

Huit jours has meant “a week” since at least Palsgrave (1530), whence donner ses huit jours “to give notice” (Zola, 1887), recalling an old custom of paying a week's wages, and d'aujourd'hui en huit (Furetière, 1690).[9][2][4] As a noun huit is the eight of a suit of cards (1690), the figure 8, a figure-of-eight in skating (1895) and a rowing eight (1906).[2][4]

Timeline

  • late 11th century – Uit, oit, Laws of William.[8]
  • 1130–40 – Oit, Wace.[4]
  • 1213 – The derivative huitième.[5]
  • 1530 – Huit jours “a week”, Palsgrave.[9]
  • 1690 – Un huit de cœur, d'aujourd'hui en huit, Furetière.[4]
  • 1895 – A figure of eight in skating.[2]

Meanings

Numeral

  1. eight: huit ans, le huit mai, page huit.[10][1]
  2. Huit jours: a week, lundi en huit, a week on Monday.[2][4]

Noun

  1. The number eight; the figure 8; the eight (of a suit of cards); a figure of eight; a rowing eight.[2][4]

Word family

  • huitième
  • huitaine
  • huitain
  • dix-huit
  • octobre
  • octave
  • Latin octō

Usage notes

The final t is pronounced before a vowel and at the end of a phrase, but not before a consonant: huit enfants /ɥit/, huit jours /ɥi/; there is no elision before it (le huit).[4][10][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ 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
  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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 305b
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Huit.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/huit. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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