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temps

Etymology and origin of the French word temps

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 10th century, Vie de saint Léger
Inherited from
Latin tempus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (tempus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin tempus
French temps

Pronunciation

  • IPA (France): /tɑ̃/[1]
  • IPA (Quebec): /tã/[1]

Forms

temps m (invariable)[1] Old French tens, tans (common until the 16th century); temps after Latin from the 14th century (once about 980), competing with tems in the 17th and 18th.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French tens, inherited from Latin tempus (“time; period, moment; the right moment; weather”) (genitive “temporis”).[5][2][3][6] Latin “tempus” was a portion of time, as opposed to “aevum”, time in its continuity (see âge), and also a metrical length and a verbal tense, French “temps” combines the values of both Latin words.[2] The origin of “tempus” is obscure, and a link with “temperare” (see tempérer) is uncertain.[2][7]

Cognate with Italian tempo, Old Occitan temps, Catalan temps, Spanish tiempo, Portuguese tempo and Romanian timp.[7][8] English tense (14th century) is from Old French.[7][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Léger (late 10th century) has a ciels temps, in those times, for a period of the past, and Et or es temps, now is the right time;[5] the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) begins Bons fut li secles al tens ancïenur.[5]

Semantic evolution

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) sun tens is a person's lifetime, and venir a tens “to come in time”.[5][8] About 1160 (Eneas) lait tens was bad weather, whence après la pluie vient le beau temps (1536), and about 1200 a season.[5] Guillaume de Lorris (1225–1230) personifies Li tens, qui tote chose mue, and gives avoir bon tens “to be happy”, later prendre du bon temps (1561).[5][2] In grammar it is a tense (14th century), in music and fencing a beat (1677), in astronomy temps vrai (1755), in engines moteur à quatre temps (1886–1889) and in sport the time of a race (1860).[5][10]

Countless phrases include de temps en temps, au bon vieux temps (Marot), il est temps de (1382), prendre son temps (1670), dans le temps “formerly” and en deux temps (1789).[5][2][10] Pascal (1657–1658) records the philosophers' debate on the essence of time.[5]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Temps in the Vie de saint Léger.[5]
  • c. 1050 – Al tens ancïenur in Saint Alexis.[5]
  • c. 1100 – A lifetime, in the Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • c. 1160 – “Weather”, in Eneas.[5]
  • 1225–1230 – Time personified, in Guillaume de Lorris.[5]
  • 14th century – A grammatical tense.[5]
  • 1538 – Au bon vieulx temps in Marot.[5]
  • 1677 – A musical beat.[5]
  • 1889 – Moteur à quatre temps.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Time: le temps passe, avoir le temps, perdre son temps, de temps en temps.[7][1]
  2. A period, time, age: au temps des Romains, dans le temps: in the old days, le bon vieux temps.[5][1]
  3. The right time: il est temps de partir, à temps: in time.[5][2]
  4. Weather: quel temps fait-il ?, beau temps, mauvais temps.[1][5]
  5. (grammar) A tense: les temps du verbe.[1][5]
  6. (music) A beat, (sport) a time: réaliser un bon temps, (engines) a stroke: moteur à quatre temps.[5][11]
  7. Mi-temps: half time, à plein temps, à temps partiel: full-time, part-time.[1][11]

Word family

  • longtemps
  • mi-temps
  • printemps
  • contretemps
  • quatre-temps
  • passe-temps

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 185a
  7. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Temps.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/temps. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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