tantôt

Forms

tantôt^[1] Old French tantost, first written separately in tant tost com “as soon as” (1119).^[2][3] The circumflex spelling dates from the 16th century.^[4]

Etymology

It is a compound from French tant + tôt, whose parts are no longer felt as separate.^[2][3][5] The second part, tôt, is *tostum, the neuter of Latin tostus (“roasted, burnt”) used as an adverb, which must first have meant “hotly”, hence “quickly”.^[6][7]

Littré gives the dialect form tantoût in Berry.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the phrase tant tost cum “as soon as” in Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119),^[2][4] and as an adverb tantost “at once” in the Roman d'Eneas (about 1160).^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the adverb meant “immediately”, a sense still used in the 16th century and in some regional speech today.^[3][6] From this it came to mean “soon, in the near future”, usual in France until the 17th century, and also “a short while ago” (about 1230),^[2][3] senses that remain common in Belgium and Quebec.^[3]

Classical usage restricted it to the same day (1580 or 1588, Montaigne) and specially to the afternoon (1636);^[2][3] this later came to be felt as regional or popular, especially in western and south-western France.^[3] The repeated tantôt … tantôt “now … now” dates from 1507,^[2][3] and the noun in sur le tantôt “in the afternoon” is recorded in 1872.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1119 – Tant tost cum “as soon as” in Philippe de Thaon.^[2]
• c. 1160 – Tantost “at once” in the Roman d'Eneas.^[2]
• c. 1230 – Used for “a short while ago”.^[2]
• Late 14th century – Froissart uses it for “soon”.^[2]
• 1507 – Tantost … tantost “now … now”.^[2][3]
• 1588 – Montaigne uses it for later on the same day.^[2]
• 1636 – In Corneille's Cid, earlier on the same day.^[2]
• 1872 – Littré records sur le tantôt “in the afternoon”.^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Tantôt … tantôt: sometimes … sometimes, now … now: tantôt gai, tantôt triste.^[9][1]
2. This afternoon: je passerai tantôt.^[9][1]
3. (dated or regional: Belgium, Quebec, Africa) Shortly, earlier or later in the same day, à tantôt, see you later.^[9][3][1]
4. (dated) soon, in the near future.^[9][2]
5. (dated) Nearly, almost: il y a tantôt trois ans.^[9][4]

Noun

1. (familiar or regional) The afternoon: sur le tantôt.^[9][2]

Usage notes

Rey links the regional uses of tantôt for “the afternoon” to the west and south-west of France and to an area from Champagne to the Rhône valley.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 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 l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b 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. 13/2, 119a
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert