Etymologically
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sept

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Pronunciation

Forms

sept (invariable)[1] Old French sep (about 980) and set (about 1050); sept is a spelling remade after the Latin word, from the end of the 12th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French set, inherited from Latin septem (“seven”).[5][2][6][7][1] The ⟨p⟩ is an etymological spelling and has never been pronounced.[5][6][8] The Latin word has exact counterparts in Ancient Greek ἑπτά (heptá), Sanskrit सप्त (saptá) and Old Irish secht;[2] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *septḿ̥.[1]

Cognate with Italian sette, Occitan set, Catalan set, Spanish siete, Portuguese sete and Romanian șapte.[9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Clermont Passion (late 10th century) has the cardinal sep; the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has dis e set anz “seventeen years”.[5]

Semantic evolution

From the 12th century the number appears in phrases with a symbolic value, such as les Sept Sages de Rome, the seven sacraments and the Seven Wonders of the World; it combines with other numerals from 1273.[2][3] As a noun it names the number (1580, Palissy), a throw at dice (1663–64, Boileau) and a playing card (1694, Académie).[5][2] In the classical language être dans son sept meant to be in the seventh month of pregnancy or on the seventh day of an illness (Académie, 1718 and 1740).[2][10] Its ordinal use, Charles sept, and le sept du mois are recorded from 1718.[5]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Sep in the Clermont Passion.[5]
  • c. 1050 – Set in the Vie de saint Alexis.[5]
  • Late 12th century – The spelling sept.[3]
  • 1580 – Used as a noun, the number seven, by Palissy.[5]
  • 1694 – The Académie records the playing card.[5][10]
  • 1718 – Ordinal use (Charles sept) and le sept du mois.[5]

Meanings

Numeral

  1. seven: les sept jours de la semaine, sept cents.[11][1]
  2. Seventh, in dates and the names of rulers: le sept mai, Charles VII.[11][5]

Noun

  1. The number seven; the figure 7.[11]
  2. A playing card with seven pips: le sept de cœur.[5][11]

Word family

  • septième

Usage notes

Before a consonant the final /t/ was formerly silent (sè livres), as Littré still records; it is now pronounced in all positions, which keeps sept apart from ses and ces.[5][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 478b
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert