Etymologically
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suffire

Etymology and origin of the French word suffire

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1120 (soufire)
Inherited from
Old French soufire
Ultimate origin
Latin (faciō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sy.fiʁ/[1]

Forms

suffire[1] Old French soufire (about 1120), sufire (about 1155); soufire, souffire, dominant in Old French, gave way to suffire from about 1507 but was still found in the 17th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French soufire, a Frenchified form of Latin sufficiō (“to put under; to supply; to be enough”), from sub- and faciō (“to make, do”).[2][4][3][5][1] The modern spelling is a remaking after the Latin word.[3][4] Bloch and Wartburg date “suffire” itself to 1495.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1120 as soufire; in the Roman d'Eneas (1160) sofire means “to be the quantity needed”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Souffire à + infinitive, “to be adequate for a purpose”, is from about 1260, and the absolute use from 1370 (Oresme).[6] The impersonal il suffit que + subjunctive dates from 1370 and il suffit de + infinitive from 1405 (Eustache Deschamps).[6][2] “To satisfy (someone)” is in Robert Estienne (1549), and of a person “to be equal to a task” from the middle of the 15th century.[6] Suffit ! and ça suffit ! are used to stop someone.[7] Derivatives include suffisant (15th century, earlier soffeisanz) and suffisance.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1120 – Soufire.[2]
  • 1160 – Sofire “to be enough”, in Eneas.[6]
  • 1370 – Il suffit que, in Oresme.[6]
  • 1405 – Il suffit de, in Eustache Deschamps.[6]
  • c. 1507 – Suffire replaces souffire.[2]
  • 1549 – “To satisfy”, in Robert Estienne.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be enough, suffice: cela suffit, suffire à, pour.[1][6]
  2. Il suffit de / que: all it takes is: il suffit d'un mot.[6]
  3. Ça suffit !, suffit !: that's enough![7]
  4. Se suffire: to be self-sufficient.[7]

Word family

  • suffisant
  • suffisance
  • insuffisant
  • suffisamment

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 404b
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
  7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Suffire.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/suffire. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·