Etymologically
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souhaiter

Etymology and origin of the French word souhaiter

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1165–70, Chrétien de Troyes, Erec et Enide (souhaidier)
Inherited from
Old French sohaidier
Ultimate origins
Latin (subtus)Frankish (*haitan)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /swɛ.te/[1]
  • IPA: /swe.te/[1]
  • IPA (archaic): /su.ɛ.te/[1]
  • IPA (archaic): /su.e.te/[1]

Forms

souhaiter[1] Old French sohaidier (about 1170), soushaidier, souhaitier, souhaiter from the 14th century (Machaut, Froissart).[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sohaidier, according to the TLFi, the FEW and Bloch and Wartburg from Gallo-Romance Vulgar Latin *subtushaitō (“to promise without committing oneself too far”), a hybrid of Latin subtus (“under”) (see sous) and Frankish *haitan (“to order, promise”), compare Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (haitan) and Old High German heizzan (“to order”).[5][6][3][1] The change from “-d-” to “-t-” in Middle French is due to the noun souhait.[5][6][1]

Pierre Guiraud proposed instead *subadiūtō, from Latin adiūtō (see aider): to wish would be to fall short of making an effort.[2][3] Littré took it from “sous” and the old verb “haitier” “to make glad”.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chrétien de Troyes's Erec et Enide (1165–70) has souhaidier, “to wish for something”.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

In 1553 souhaiter qqn meant to wish for someone's presence, a use now dated.[5][2] The 17th century brought the modern constructions: souhaiter de + infinitive (Descartes, 1637), souhaiter que + subjunctive (Racine, 1669), and formulas of good wishes such as souhaiter la bonne année (1627) and souhaiter le bonjour.[5][2][4] Il est à souhaiter que is recorded from 1797.[8]

Timeline

  • 1165–70 – Souhaidier, Chrétien de Troyes.[5]
  • c. 1170 – The noun souhait.[6]
  • 14th century – Souhaiter, Machaut.[6]
  • 1553 – Souhaiter qqn.[5]
  • 1627 – Souhaiter la bonne année.[5]
  • 1669 – Souhaiter que, Racine.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To wish for, hope for: je souhaite qu'il réussisse, souhaiter partir.[9][1]
  2. To wish (someone something): souhaiter bonne chance à qqn, je vous souhaite une bonne année.[1][5]
  3. (dated) To wish for the presence of (someone).[5][1]

Word family

  • souhait
  • souhaitable

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Souhaiter.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/souhaiter. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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