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prêter

Etymology and origin of the French word prêter

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1138, Gaimar (prester)
Inherited from
Latin praesto via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (praestō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin praesto
French prêter

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pʁɛ.te/[1]
  • IPA: /pʁe.te/[1]

Forms

prêter[1] Old French prester; the Académie wrote prester in 1694 and 1718, prêter from 1740.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French prester, inherited from Latin praestō (“to make available, provide; to guarantee”).[3][4][2][5][1][6] In late Latin the verb often stood for “dare” “to give” and took the sense of lending an object or money.[4][5][2] Rey connects it most probably with the adverb praestō (“at hand”), Littré and the GLLF analyse it as prae- (“before”) and stō (“to stand”).[4][7][8]

“Prêter serment” copies Latin “ius iurandum praestare”.[3] Cognate with Italian prestare, Spanish prestar, Portuguese prestar and Romanian presta.[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis (about 1138–1140) uses it for putting something at someone's disposal.[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

Lending something on condition that it be returned is in Marie de France (1180), and became the everyday sense from the 16th century, with prêter sur gage (1585) and prêter à la petite semaine (1845).[3][4] Bloch and Wartburg think this was the only truly popular sense, the others being taken from Latin.[5]

The sense “to grant, confer” (about 1225) gave prêter l'oreille (1269, Jean de Meun), prêter serment (1538) and prêter attention (1548); prêter la main (about 1562) and prêter main-forte (1636) mean to help.[3][4] Montaigne (1588) uses it for attributing a quality, whence on ne prête qu'aux riches (1845).[3] Se prêter à “to lend oneself to” is in Montaigne (1580), and the intransitive sense “to stretch” of a cloth in Richelet (1680).[3] In Louisiana prêter means “to borrow”.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1138 – Prester, Gaimar.[2][3]
  • 1180 – To lend, Marie de France.[3]
  • 1269 – Prester l'oreille, Jean de Meun.[3]
  • 1538 – Prêter serment, Robert Estienne.[3]
  • 1580 – Se prêter, Montaigne.[3]
  • 1636 – Prêter main-forte.[3]
  • 1808 – C'est un prêté pour un rendu.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lend: prêter un livre, de l'argent à qqn.[9][1]
  2. To give, provide: prêter assistance, prêter main-forte, prêter attention, prêter serment.[9][1]
  3. To attribute, ascribe: prêter des intentions à qqn, on ne prête qu'aux riches.[3][1]
  4. Prêter à: to give rise to: prêter à confusion, prêter à rire, prêter le flanc, to lay oneself open.[3][1]
  5. Se prêter à: to lend oneself to; to go along with.[3][1]
  6. (Louisiana) To borrow.[1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  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. 9, 314a
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Prêter.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/pr%C3%AAter. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·