Etymology and origin of the French word ponte
ponte1 laying of eggs
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1570 Charles Estienne, Agriculture et Maison rustique
- Ultimate origin
- Latin pōnō
Etymology tree of ponte1
From the same root · ponte1
Pronunciation
- /pɔ̃t/[1]
Forms
ponte f (plural pontes)[1]
Etymology
The word for the laying of eggs is from French pondre: it is the old feminine past participle of the verb used as a noun.[2][3][1][4] The old participle (masculine ⟨pont⟩) was later replaced by pondu.[3] The verb is from Latin pōnō (“to put, place”), which already meant “to lay eggs” in Ovid, the only sense kept in Gallo-Romance.[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first recorded in 1570, in Charles Estienne's Agriculture et Maison rustique, for the act of laying eggs, as in la ponte des poules.[2][6]
Semantic evolution
By metonymy the word soon named the laying season (1570) and the eggs laid (1600).[3] Olivier de Serres wrote in 1600: la ponte, que les femmes du Languedoc appellent poustaignade, est certain nombre d'œufs que la poule fait sans se reposer (“the laying, which the women of Languedoc call poustaignade, is a certain number of eggs that the hen lays without much rest”).[2][7] In physiology it has been used since 1847 for ovulation.[3][8] It is rarely used figuratively for producing a piece of writing, matching the figurative sense of pondre.[3]
Timeline
- 1570 – First recorded for the act of laying eggs and for the laying season.[2][3]
- 1600 – Olivier de Serres uses it for the eggs laid.[2][7]
- 1847 – Used in physiology for ovulation.[3][8]
Meanings
Noun
ponte2 punter, bigwig
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Back-formation
- First attested
- 1703 Nouveau jeu de l'Hombre
- Ultimate origin
- Latin pōnō
From the same root · ponte2
Pronunciation
- /pɔ̃t/[1]
Forms
ponte m or f (plural pontes)[1]
Etymology
The word for the punter is probably a back-formation from French ponter2 (“to punt, stake against the banker”), although the noun is recorded before the verb.[2][3][9][10] The verb (1718, but older) is derived from ⟨pont⟩, ⟨ponte⟩, the old past participle of pondre.[3] The Grand Robert also allows a derivation from that old participle directly, from pōnō (“to put, place”).[8] Since that verb kept only the sense “to lay eggs” in Gallo-Romance, the DHLF compares Old Occitan ponher (“to put”) (1344) and Middle French poner, which in Franco-Provençal came to mean “to put down money, to pay”, and the Latin verb itself, which could mean “to lay down a stake”.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
In 1703, in the Nouveau jeu de l'Hombre, it names each of the players who play against the one who holds the bank.[2]
Semantic evolution
From gambling the word passed into wider use: before 1778 Voltaire used it for a member of a kind of life annuity scheme,[2][3] and Balzac, in La Maison Nucingen (1838), for a speculator.[2][3] In the slang of army officers it meant a rich man who spends freely (1883),[2][3] probably through gros ponte “a big player”, and so a presumably rich one.[3] Under the influence of pontife, of which it may also be a clipped form, it then came to mean an important, influential person.[3][9][8]
Timeline
- 1703 – First recorded for a player against the bank.[2][8]
- Before 1778 – Voltaire uses it for a member of a life annuity scheme.[2][3]
- 1838 – Balzac uses it for a speculator.[2]
- 1883 – Officers' slang uses it for a free-spending rich man.[2][3]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
Usage notes
The Grand Robert has a third ponte (masculine, 1704), from Spanish punto (“point”): in the old card game of ombre, the ace of hearts or diamonds when that suit was trumps.[8] The TLFi gives this sense under the punter's ponte, with a first record in 1682,[2] and Littré too derives the masculine ponte from Spanish punto.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 162b
- ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 161a
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Ponte.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/ponte. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.
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