Etymologically
Log in

savoir

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 04:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sa.vwaʁ/[1]

Forms

savoir[1] Old French savir (842, as a noun), saveir (about 980), savoir (about 1165).[2][3] From the 15th to the 17th century it was also written sçavoir, as if from Latin scīre.[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French saveir, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sapēre, an alteration of Classical Latin sapere (“to taste; to be wise; to understand”).[2][5][3][6] The Latin verb meant “to have a taste, a smell” and “to perceive by taste”, hence figuratively “to have sense, to be wise”, and as a transitive verb “to understand”, already in the Republican period, and “to know” in Late Latin.[2][6] Supported by sapiēns, it eliminated scīre (“to know”), which survives only in Romanian ști and Logudorese “iskire”.[6] The present “sais” comes from Vulgar Latin “*sayo”, and the subjunctive “sache” from sapiat, with the regular change of [pj].[1]

The Latin verb has a Germanic correspondent in Old Saxon afsebbian (“to perceive”).[2] Cognate with Italian sapere, Occitan saber, Catalan saber, Spanish saber and Portuguese saber.[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The infinitive is first found in the Strasbourg Oaths (842), used as a noun: in quant Deus savir et podir me dunat “as far as God gives me knowledge and power”.[8][9] As a verb it appears at the end of the 10th century, with an infinitive, “to be able to”: de Crist non sabent mot parlar “they could not say a word about Christ”.[8]

Semantic evolution

In the second half of the 10th century savoir + clause meant “to know something from having been told”, and about 1100 “to be able to do something” by talent or practice (Ben set parler “he can speak well”).[8][2] About 1050 it was a weakened equivalent of pouvoir (Ne vus sai dire “I cannot tell you”), a use that survives in the negative conditional (je ne saurais) and in Belgian French in the positive.[8][1] The imperative sachez calls for attention from about 1100, and que je sache “as far as I know” is found in 1176–81.[8]

The noun savoir meant “wisdom, intelligence” in the oldest texts and “knowledge acquired by study” from about 1155.[9][3] Derivatives include savant (12th century, a noun from 1634), savoir-vivre (1466) and savoir-faire (1671).[6]

Timeline

  • 842 – Savir as a noun in the Strasbourg Oaths.[8][3]
  • c. 980 – The form saveir.[2][3]
  • late 10th century – Savoir + infinitive, “to be able to”.[8]
  • c. 1100 – “To know how to” in the Chanson de Roland.[8]
  • c. 1165 – The form savoir.[2]
  • 15th century – The spelling sçavoir appears.[2]
  • 1466 – Savoir-vivre.[6]
  • 1671 – Savoir-faire.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To know (a fact, something one has learned or been told): je sais qu'il est là.[1][2]
  2. To know how to: savoir nager.[1][2]
  3. To know (a language, a lesson) by heart or by study: savoir sa leçon.[2]
  4. (negative conditional) To be able to: je ne saurais vous dire.[1][8]
  5. To find out, to learn: je l'ai su hier.[1]
  6. À savoir: namely.[1]

Noun

  1. knowledge, learning: l'étendue de son savoir.[7][9]
  2. (philosophy) The state of the mind that knows.[7]

Word family

  • savant
  • savoir-faire
  • savoir-vivre
  • su

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 193a
  6. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
  9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse