Etymologically
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suite

Etymology and origin of the French word suite

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1150, Laws of William the Conqueror
Inherited from
Latin *sequita
Ultimate origin
Latin (sequor)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French suite
English suite

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sɥit/[1]

Forms

suite f (plural suites)[1] Anglo-Norman siwte (about 1150), siute, sieute (14th century), suite from the 13th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is Old French siute, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sequita (“pursuit”), the feminine used as a noun of “*sequitus”, a popular form of Latin “secūtus”, past participle of Latin sequī (“to follow”);[2][3][5][6] it developed alongside suivre, from Vulgar Latin “*sequere”.[3][1] The French participle “*sieut” disappeared before the first texts.[5] Littré derived it from Latin secta.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Anglo-Norman Laws of William the Conqueror (about 1150) has senz siwte e senz cri, without pursuit or hue and cry: a legal pursuit.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In feudal law the word, now replaced by poursuite, also meant a right (1302), whence droit de suite (the creditor's right to follow a mortgaged property, 16th century; the artist's resale right, 1920).[2][3] In hunting sieute (1376) was the pursuit of game.[2][3]

With the general value “what follows”, Old French used it for a sect and a social class, and about 1223 (Gautier de Coinci) for the people who travel with a superior, a retinue.[2][3] From 1538 it was a series of things and what results from something, Montaigne has it for the followers of a doctrine (1580) and for a set of rooms (about 1590), and Larbaud for a hotel suite (1913).[3][2] It named a series of medals (1690), the continuation of a book (1690), a mathematical sequence (Fontenelle, 1727) and a musical suite (Rameau, about 1717).[2][3] Phrases include par suite (1721), donner suite (1788), par suite de (1835) and commercial suite à.[3]

English took suite in the 1670s for a retinue, and later for a musical suite, a set of rooms and a set of furniture, suit is an earlier borrowing of the same French word.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1150 – Siwte “legal pursuit”.[2]
  • c. 1223 – A retinue, in Gautier de Coinci.[2]
  • 1376 – Sieute in hunting.[2]
  • 1538 – A series; a consequence.[3]
  • c. 1590 – A set of rooms, in Montaigne.[2]
  • 1670s – English suite.[8]
  • 1690 – A series of medals.[2]
  • c. 1717 – A musical suite, in Rameau.[2]
  • 1727 – A mathematical sequence.[2]
  • 1788 – Donner suite.[3]
  • 1913 – A hotel suite.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. What follows; the rest: attendons la suite des événements, la suite au prochain numéro.[9][1]
  2. A sequel, continuation: ce roman a une suite.[9][1]
  3. A series, succession: une suite de malheurs.[9][10]
  4. A retinue: le roi et sa suite.[9][2]
  5. A consequence, result: les suites d'une maladie.[9][1]
  6. A suite (of rooms, in a hotel).[1][2]
  7. (music) A suite.[2][11]
  8. (mathematics) A sequence.[1][2]
  9. Phrases: tout de suite: at once, de suite: in a row, par la suite: later, à la suite de: after, following, suite à: further to.[1][12]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 489b
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Suite.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/suite. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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