huitante

Forms

huitante (invariable)^[1] Old French oitante and uitante;^[2][3][1] huitante is the 13th-century spelling.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French oitante, inherited from Latin octōgintā (“eighty”).^{[3][2][4][5][6]} Wiktionary starts from the variant octāgintā.^[1] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert instead derive it from huit.^[7][8] Its doublet is octante.^[1]

Cognate with Italian ottanta, Occitan ochanta, Catalan vuitanta, Spanish ochenta and Portuguese oitenta.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as oitante in the Voyage de Charlemagne (about 1140), meaning “eighty”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Huitante was the old name of the eighth ten; it was in use in the 16th century, became rare in the 17th, and gave way to quatre-vingts, which counts by twenties.^[2][5] The old word survived in several dialects.^[3]

Today it is used in Switzerland, where it is the official term in the canton of Vaud.^[5][8][3] In Belgium it was in use until the 19th century, taken from Walloon ûtante, but is no longer employed there.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – Oitante appears in the Voyage de Charlemagne.^[3][5]
• 13th century – The spelling huitante appears.^[2]
• 14th century – A royal letter is dated l'an mil trois cent huitante deux.^[4]
• 17th century – The word becomes rare in France.^[2]
• 19th century – It goes out of use in Belgium.^[5]

Meanings

Numeral

1. (Switzerland) eighty, for standard French quatre-vingts.^[3][8][1]
2. (obsolete) Eighty, in general French until the 17th century.^[2]

Related words

• huit
• octante
• quatre-vingts
• Latin octōgintā

Usage notes

The ordinal is huitantième.^[8] Wiktionary also records it in Valais, Fribourg, the Aosta Valley and Acadia.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 309a
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter