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sauter

Etymology and origin of the French word sauter

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1181–90, Chrétien de Troyes, Perceval
Inherited from
Latin salto
Ultimate origin
Latin (saliō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin salto
French sauter

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /so.te/[1]

Forms

sauter[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin saltō (“to dance, (Late Latin) to jump”), the frequentative of saliō (“to jump, leap”).[2][3][4][5][6] “Saltāre” properly meant “to jump”, but in classical Latin it was used for dancing with mime; in popular Latin it took back the sense “to jump” at the expense of “salīre”, which gave saillir.[4][3] The sense “to dance” survives in Italian, while French uses words of Germanic origin such as danser.[4]

Cognate with Italian saltare, Occitan sautar, Catalan saltar, Spanish saltar and Portuguese saltar.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval (1181–90) it means to spring up into the air, landing in the same place or clearing a space.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century it meant to cover a female (1440–75), a use later taken over by saillir but revived in slang as “to have sex with”.[3] From the 16th century came sauter sur qqn “to attack” (before 1506), sauter au col (1538), later au cou (1666), “to embrace eagerly”, and reculer pour mieux sauter (Marot).[2][3] Sauter du coq à l'âne (15th century) is to jump from one subject to another, and, from 1636 sauter means to skip a passage when reading.[2][3]

From 1580 it meant to blow up, burst: faire sauter a mine or a fortress (1587), se faire sauter la cervelle (1680), and, from 1800 to lose one's position.[2][3] In cooking faire sauter (1767) is to fry quickly over a high heat, tossing the food, Turkish borrowed it as sote.[3][9][1] Sauter aux yeux “to be obvious” dates from 1663.[2]

Timeline

  • 1181–90 – First record, Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • 1440–75 – “To cover (a female)”.[3]
  • Before 1506 – Sauter sur qqn “to attack”.[2]
  • c. 1530 – Reculer pour mieux sauter, Marot.[3]
  • 1580 – “To explode”, Palissy.[2]
  • 1636 – To skip a passage.[3]
  • 1663 – Sauter aux yeux, Molière.[2]
  • 1767 – Faire sauter in cooking.[9]
  • 1876 – Of a firm, “to go bankrupt”, Zola.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To jump, leap: sauter en l'air, sauter de joie.[10][1]
  2. To jump over, clear: sauter un fossé, sauter le pas, to take the plunge.[1][3]
  3. To skip, leave out: sauter une ligne, sauter un repas.[1][3]
  4. Sauter sur: to pounce on; to jump at (an offer).[11][2]
  5. To blow up, explode, faire sauter, to blow up, les plombs ont sauté, the fuses have blown.[1][12]
  6. (familiar) Of a person, to lose one's job; of a firm, to go bankrupt.[2]
  7. (cooking) Faire sauter: to sauté.[1][3]
  8. (slang) To have sex with.[1][3]
  9. Sauter aux yeux: to be obvious.[2][12]

Word family

  • saut
  • sauterelle
  • sauteur
  • sauterie
  • sautiller
  • sautoir
  • saute-mouton
  • sursauter
  • tressauter
  • ressauter

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 l m n o 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 112a
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Sauter.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/sauter. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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