souvent

Pronunciation

• IPA: /su.vɑ̃/^[1]

Forms

souvent^[1] Old French sovent (about 1050), suvent (1080); souvent from the 13th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sovent, inherited from Latin subinde (“immediately after; repeatedly; often”), formed from sub- and inde (“from there; from then”).^{[5][2][6][7][1]} Classical Latin saepe (“often”) disappeared from all the Romance languages; it was entirely gone by the “Peregrinatio Aetheriae” (381–388).^[6][5] “Inde” also gave the pronoun en.^[2]

Cognate with Occitan soven and Catalan sovint, Italian “sovente” is borrowed, the native word being “spesso”.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis, meaning “several times, repeatedly”.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it also meant “constantly” (about 1283), and suvent… suvent “now… now” (about 1155).^[2] Plus suvent is recorded in the early 12th century, and le plus souvent “most of the time” in 1538, when souvent also took the general sense “in many cases”.^[5][2] In familiar speech le plus souvent ! (1808), then plus souvent ! (1821, written pu souvent), became an ironic “certainly not!”, and plus souvent que expressed refusal (1807).^[2][5][4] The old souventes fois, souventefois, is now regional.^[6][2]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Sovent in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[5]
• Early 12th century – Plus suvent, in Benedeit.^[5]
• 12th century – Souventefois.^[6]
• 1538 – Le plus souvent, in Robert Estienne.^[5]
• 1808 – Le plus souvent ! “certainly not!”.^[2][9]
• 1821 – Plus souvent !.^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. often, frequently: il vient souvent.^[10][1]
2. In many cases: c'est bien souvent le cas, le plus souvent: mostly.^[10][2]
3. Plus souvent qu'à son tour: more often than one should.^[10]
4. (popular, dated) Plus souvent !: certainly not!^[10][9]

Word family

• souventefois

Related words

• en

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b 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 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 e 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. 12, 333a
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. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert