Etymologically
Log in

rapide

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 21:00. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁa.pid/[1]

Forms

rapide (plural rapides)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rapidus (“sweeping along; swift, impetuous”),[2][3][4][5] from rapiō (“to seize, carry off”), the source of ravir.[3][6] It displaced the inherited Old and Middle French rade (“swift; strong”) (about 1170, Judaeo-French “rabdes” “torrential waters”, late 11th century), which survives in dialects of the north-east.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Octovien de Saint-Gelais's translation of the Aeneid (before 1502) uses it for “moving with speed”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century it was applied to a river with a strong current (1640), to an impatient temper (Racine, 1670), to a concise style (Boileau, 1674) and to a quick action (1690).[2][3][7] Of time it means “passing quickly” (Bossuet, 1687), and of slopes “steep” (Buffon, 1749).[2] From 1781 it qualified a quick mind.[3]

As a noun, les rapides are the stretches of fast water in a river (1736), a word more familiar in Quebec than in Europe,[2][3] and un rapide was a fast train (1870), a use now dated.[2][3] Technical uses include ciment rapide (1926) and acier rapide (1927).[2] The adverb rapidement (1611) replaced radement.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1170 – Old French rade in Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • Before 1502 – Rapide in Saint-Gelais.[2]
  • 1573 – Rapidité.[4]
  • 1640 – Of a river.[3]
  • 1674 – Of style, in Boileau.[2]
  • 1736 – Rapides “rapids”.[2]
  • 1870 – Rapide “fast train”.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Fast, quick, rapid: un coureur rapide, une voiture rapide.[6][8]
  2. Done or happening quickly: une décision rapide.[6][7]
  3. Of a river, swift-flowing; of a slope, steep.[6][8]
  4. Quick-witted; of style, brisk, concise.[3][7]

Noun

  1. (often plural) Rapids in a river.[9][1]
  2. (dated) A fast train, an express.[1][2]
  3. A quick person.[9]

Word family

  • rapidement
  • rapidité

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 l m n 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 e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 66b
  6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)