quête

Forms

quête f (plural quêtes)^[1] Old French queste; the spelling quête dates from the early 17th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French queste, inherited from Vulgar Latin *quaesita (“search”), the feminine, used as a noun, of a past participle of querre (the old form of quérir) that had disappeared before the first texts.^[2][4][3] This continues Latin quaesītus, past participle of quaerō (“to seek”).^[2][5][6] Latin's own nouns of action were quaestiō, source of question, and later quaesītiō.^[5]

Cognate with Italian chiesta and Occitan questa.^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Étienne de Fougères (1174–1178) uses queste for gain or acquisition; the sense “search” is in Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier au lion (1176–1181).^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the sense “search” the word lost ground to recherche and held out mainly in en quête de (about 1175) and in hunting, for a hound's searching out the track of game.^[5][2] The quête of the Grail romances keeps the old sense in learned and literary use.^[5][8]

From the 13th century it meant asking for alms for a pious work (1262), then collecting money from the public, and by metonymy the money collected (1648, Scarron).^[2][5][3] English quest comes from Old French queste and is recorded about 1300.^[9]

Timeline

• 1174–1178 – Queste “gain” in Étienne de Fougères.^[2]
• 1176–1181 – The sense “search” in Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• 1262 – It means asking for alms for pious works.^[2]
• c. 1300 – English quest is recorded.^[9]
• 1376 – It is used in hunting.^[2]
• 1648 – It names the money collected.^[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated or literary) A search or quest: la quête du Graal, une longue quête de sens.^[8][2]
2. En quête de: in search of: être en quête d'un logement.^[8]
3. (hunting) The searching out of game by hounds or a huntsman.^[8][7]
4. A collection of money for a pious or charitable work, faire la quête, also the money collected.^[8][5]

Word family

• quêter
• quêteur

Related words

• quérir
• enquête
• requête
• conquête
• question
• Latin quaerō
• English quest

Usage notes

A nautical homograph quête (1678), the backward rake of a mast, is the Norman form of chette, a dialect variant of chute, from Latin cadere.^[10][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
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. 2, 1409a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert