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vitesse

Etymology and origin of the French word vitesse

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1165, Benoît de Sainte-Maure, Roman de Troie
Ultimate origin
French (vist-,-esse)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French vite
French vitesse

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /vi.tɛs/[1]

Forms

vitesse f (plural vitesses)[1] Vistece (about 1165), vistesse (1538); vîtesse in the Académie dictionary of 1740 and 1762, vitesse from 1798.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from French vite + -esse.[2][4][3][1] vite, first “viste” (about 1160), was an adjective until the 17th century;[5] Bloch and Wartburg reject a participle Vulgar Latin *vīsitus (“looked at closely”), from vīsō (“to look at closely”), and take it from an onomatopoeia imitating a sudden, quick movement, like Old Italian visto and Italian vispo.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1165) uses vistece for agility, skill: ci parisse vostre vitesce, vostre valur, vostre proesce.[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Robert Estienne (1538) has vistesse for covering much ground in little time, and his grammar (1557) prefers il court de vistesse to il court vistement.[2][6] François de Sales (1616) uses it for doing something in little time, de vistesse “quickly”.[2] Richelet (1680) has the physical sense, distance covered per unit of time: the speed of a falling body increases through the earth's attraction.[2][7] Gagner quelqu'un de vitesse is in the Académie dictionary of 1762.[3]

With the motor car it named each of the gear ratios (changement de vitesse, 1896, quatre vitesses, 1905).[2] The railways' grande vitesse for express goods is from 1876.[8] Modern phrases include en vitesse “quickly”, à toute vitesse “at full speed” and en perte de vitesse “losing momentum”.[1][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1165 – Vistece “agility”, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[2]
  • 1538 – Vistesse “speed”, in Robert Estienne.[2]
  • 1559 – The form vitesse, in Amyot.[3]
  • 1616 – De vistesse “quickly”, in François de Sales.[2]
  • 1680 – Speed in physics, in Richelet.[2]
  • 1798 – The Académie adopts the spelling vitesse.[2]
  • 1896 – Changement de vitesse in a motor car.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Speed, swiftness: à toute vitesse, course de vitesse, a sprint, excès de vitesse, speeding.[9][1]
  2. Quickness in doing something: en vitesse, quickly, gagner quelqu'un de vitesse, to outstrip someone.[9][3]
  3. (physics) Velocity, the distance covered per unit of time: vitesse de la lumière.[2][1]
  4. (motoring) A gear: passer les vitesses, boîte de vitesses.[1][2]
  5. En perte de vitesse: losing momentum or popularity.[1]

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 h i j k l m n o 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Vitesse.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/vitesse. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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