Etymologically
Log in

sortie

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 11:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sɔʁ.ti/[1]

Forms

sortie f (plural sorties)[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine past participle of sortir used as a noun.[2][3][4][1] Of the verb's senses it kept only the idea of movement.[3] The verb probably continues Latin sortior (“to cast lots; to obtain by lot”), from sors (“lot, fate”) (see sort); the shift to “to go out” may have started from the participle sortītus “designated by lot”, hence “escaping”, “appearing outside”.[3][5] A derivation of the verb of movement from a popular *surctus, for surrēctus, the participle of surgō (“to rise”), has been proposed and is followed by Etymonline and in part by Wiktionary, but Rey objects that it does not account for the French ⟨o⟩.[3][6][1] The verb was rare as a verb of movement before the 16th century, when it replaced the old issir (see issue); a noun essort (“a going out”) is found in the 13th century and in 1431.[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The statutes of the painters, sculptors, embroiderers and illuminators of Amiens (5 December 1400) use it for the act of leaving a place.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Tagault (1549) uses it for the appearance of something to the eye (eruptions et sorties de phlegmes), and in war it named a sally of the besieged (Catherine de Médicis, 1570, firent une sortie sur l'ennemy, 1579).[2] The place through which one goes out is in d'Aubigné (1616), and Monet (1636) has à la sortie “at the end”.[2][3] Molière (Les Femmes savantes, 1672) uses it for an angry outburst.[2]

Later special uses include short trips from a port (1831), an actor's exit (Académie, 1835, fausse sortie, Balzac, 1836), a servant's or boarder's day off (Balzac, 1840, jour de sortie, 1844), expenditure (1846), workers leaving work (Zola, Germinal, 1885), the release of a book (Gide, 1927) or a film (1936), the emergency exit (sortie de secours, Morand, 1930), and, in 1964, computer output and an operational flight by an aircraft.[2][3] English borrowed sortie in 1778 for an attack by the besieged, and used it for military flights from 1918.[6]

Timeline

  • 13th century – The older noun essort.[3]
  • 1400 – “A going out”, Amiens.[2]
  • 1570 – A sally, Catherine de Médicis.[2]
  • 1616 – The way out, d'Aubigné.[2]
  • 1672 – “Outburst”, Molière.[2]
  • 1778 – English sortie.[6]
  • 1835 – An exit from the stage.[2]
  • 1840 – A day off, Balzac.[2]
  • 1885 – Workers leaving work, Zola.[2]
  • 1927 – Release of a book, Gide.[2]
  • 1930 – Sortie de secours, Morand.[2]
  • 1964 – Computer output; a combat mission by an aircraft.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of going out, leaving: à la sortie des écoles; an actor's going off, fausse sortie.[7][1]
  2. An outing, trip: une sortie en famille, jour de sortie, day off.[7][1]
  3. An exit, way out: sortie de secours; the exit of a motorway.[2][1]
  4. (military) A sally, sortie by the besieged; a mission by an aircraft.[2][1]
  5. The release, appearance (of a book, a film, a product): date de sortie.[2][1]
  6. An outburst, a remark made in anger: faire une sortie contre quelqu'un.[2][3]
  7. Outgoings, expenditure: les entrées et les sorties.[2]
  8. (computing, electronics) Output.[2][1]
  9. À la sortie de: at the end of; at the exit from.[2][3]

Word family

  • sortie de bain

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert