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veste

Etymology and origin of the French word veste

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1578, Négociations du Levant
Borrowed from
Italian veste
Ultimate origin
Latin (vestis)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /vɛst/[1]

Forms

veste f (plural vestes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian veste (“garment, clothing”) (before 1484, Pulci; first “vesta” in Dante), from Latin vestis (“clothing, garment”), through its accusative vestem.[2][3][4][5][6] Rey notes that the Latin word probably meant at first “a way of dressing”, and also meant “carpet”, “woman's veil” and, figuratively, “a snake's slough”; it rests on a root also seen in exuō (“to strip”) and induō (“to put on”).[3] The verb vêtir continues the same family.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1578, in a list of gifts made by the ambassador of Venice, for a garment with four panels reaching to the knees, worn under the coat.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In 1670–1671 it named the long garment that Orientals wore under their robe (vestes à la persane), and in 1793 the cloth coat of various armies.[2][3] From 1778 (Beaumarchais) it was a short outer garment with sleeves, stopping at the hips, worn by footmen in summer and by some trades, as the cuisiniers en veste blanche of Mercier (1783).[2][3] The veste nouvelle of 1820 generalized it as the short jacket worn with trousers.[2][3] In Quebec veste or petite veste means a waistcoat.[3]

Remporter or ramasser une veste “to suffer a defeat” (1866, Delvau), first said of elections, may be a pun on capot “beaten at cards”;[2][3][4] retourner sa veste “to change sides” dates from 1870.[2][3][4] The derivative veston is recorded in 1757 in Quebec, then in 1769.[3][4]

Timeline

  • 1578 – A knee-length garment worn under the coat.[2]
  • 1671 – Vestes à la persane, in Bouhours.[2]
  • 1778 – A footman's short jacket, in Beaumarchais.[2]
  • 1820 – The veste nouvelle, a jacket worn with trousers.[2][3]
  • 1866 – Remporter une veste “to fail”, in Delvau.[2]
  • 1870 – Retourner sa veste.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A jacket, a short garment with sleeves, open at the front: veste de costume, veste de tailleur.[7][1]
  2. (historical) A long garment worn under the coat.[2][7]
  3. (familiar) Remporter une veste: to suffer a defeat, a failure.[2][3]
  4. Retourner sa veste: to change sides, become a turncoat.[3][2]
  5. (Quebec) A waistcoat.[3]

Word family

  • veston

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 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 m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 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. ^ 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. 14, 356b
  7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Veste.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/veste. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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