Etymologically
Log in

pâte

Etymology and origin of the French word pâte

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1174–1178, Étienne de Fougères
Inherited from
Latin pasta via Old French
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (παστά)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pat/[1]
  • IPA: /ˈpa.tə/[1]
  • IPA (France, traditional): /pɑt/[1]
  • IPA (Belgium, Switzerland): /pɑt/[1]

Forms

pâte f (plural pâtes)[1] Old French paste, pâte from 1636 (Monet), in the Académie from 1740.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French paste, inherited from Late Latin pasta (“dough”) (4th century, Marcellus Empiricus),[2][4][5][6] from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá, “dish of barley and cheese”),[2][7] the neuter plural of παστός (pastós, “sprinkled”), from πάσσω (pássō, “to sprinkle”), a verb of obscure origin.[4][7][8] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF give the Greek as “pastê” “sauce mixed with flour”,[5][3] and the Grand Robert adds the influence of Old French “past” “meal” (see paître).[9]

Cognate with Italian pasta, Old Occitan pasta, Spanish pasta and Romanian pastă.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Étienne de Fougères's Livre des manières (1174–1178) has pein de neire paste, bread of black dough: flour mixed with water and kneaded.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century fish and rabbits were cooked en paste (Rutebeuf's connins en paste), whence Mme de Sévigné's comme un coq en pâte (1672), “in clover”, Bloch and Wartburg explain it from a cock being fattened.[2][10][5][8] The baker's work gave mettre la main à la pâte (1389, literal; 1486, figurative).[2][4] The plural pâtes named small pieces of dough cooked in water, first pâtes d'Italie (Parmentier, 1778), then les pâtes (1825), now preferred to nouilles.[2][4]

By analogy it was used of a medicinal paste (1495), a moulded relief (1520), paste à papier (1557), the colours of painters (1690) and the body of a cheese (pâte molle, 1723).[2][4] Figuratively it is a person's character, surviving in une bonne pâte (Bonaventure des Périers, 1554: bonne paste de gens).[2][4][8] In sub-Saharan Africa pâte is a ball of flour, semolina or yam served with a sauce.[4]

Timeline

  • 4th century – Late Latin pasta in Marcellus Empiricus.[2]
  • 1174–1178 – Paste in Étienne de Fougères.[2]
  • 13th century – En paste.[2]
  • 1389 – Putting one's hand to the dough, in Philippe de Mézières.[2]
  • 1557 – Paste à papier.[2]
  • 1672 – Comme un coq en pâte in Mme de Sévigné.[10]
  • 1723 – Pâte molle of cheese.[2]
  • 1778 – Pâtes d'Italie in Parmentier.[2]
  • 1825 – Les pâtes in Brillat-Savarin.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Dough, pastry; batter: pâte à pain, pâte brisée, pâte à crêpes.[7][1]
  2. (plural) Pasta: pâtes alimentaires.[7][1]
  3. A paste, soft mixture: pâte à papier, pâte à modeler, pâte dentifrice.[1][11]
  4. The body of a cheese: fromage à pâte molle.[11][2]
  5. (painting) The texture of the paint.[2][3]
  6. Une bonne pâte: a good sort, mettre la main à la pâte: to lend a hand, comme un coq en pâte: in clover.[7][4]

Word family

  • pâteux
  • pâton
  • empâter
  • pâté
  • pâtée
  • pâtisserie
  • pâtissier
  • pastiche
  • pastis
  • pâtisser
  • pâtes
  • Late Latin pasta
  • English paste

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 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
  3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c 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, 744a
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pâte.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/p%C3%A2te. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·