Etymologically
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tôt

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Pronunciation

Forms

tôt[1] Written tost until the 17th century, tôt from 1636 (Monet) and in the Académie's dictionary from 1740.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French tost, inherited from Vulgar Latin *tostum, the neuter used as an adverb of tostus (“parched, roasted, burnt”), past participle of torreō (“to parch, roast”).[3][2][4][5][6] The adverb must first have meant “hotly”, hence “promptly”, Rey and the Robert compare the figurative use of brûler and griller (“brûler une étape”).[4][2][5] The Robert and Petit Robert give the etymology as probable.[5][7] Littré cites Old French “chaut pas” “quickly” and Dante's “impresa tosta” “a swift undertaking”, and rejects Diez's alternative “*tōtō citō” “all quickly”.[8]

Cognate with Italian tosto, Catalan tost, Old Occitan tost and Walloon toist.[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Sequence of Saint Eulalia (about 881) it means “quickly, without delay”: they threw her into the fire com arde tost “so that she would burn quickly”.[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, “quickly”, lasted into the 17th century (plus tost que plus tard, about 1330) and survives in avoir tôt fait de.[3][2] About 980 it meant “soon”, and by about 1160 “early, before the usual or expected time” (trop tost venuz), now the main sense.[3] Phrases followed: au plus tost (1174–76), tost ou tart (1176, Chrétien de Troyes), le plus tôt est le mieux (1636), ne… pas plus tôt… que (1696).[3][9] Several adverbs were formed by fusion with it: aussitôt, bientôt, plutôt, sitôt and tantôt.[4][2]

Timeline

  • c. 881 – Tost “quickly”, Sequence of Saint Eulalia.[3]
  • c. 980 – “Soon”, Jonas.[3]
  • c. 1160 – “Early”, Eneas.[3]
  • 1176 – Tost ou tart, Chrétien de Troyes.[3]
  • 1636 – The spelling tôt, le plus tôt est le mieux.[2][3]
  • 1872 – Tôt-fait, a quick cake.[2]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. early: se lever tôt, il a su lire très tôt.[10][1]
  2. Too early, before the expected time: il est trop tôt, ce n'est pas trop tôt!, about time![10][7]
  3. Soon: le plus tôt sera le mieux, au plus tôt, as soon as possible; at the earliest.[10][7]
  4. Tôt ou tard: sooner or later.[7][3]
  5. Plus tôt: earlier.[7]
  6. (literary) Avoir tôt fait de: to be quick to.[7][5]

Word family

  • toast
  • torride
  • Latin tostus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 118a
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)