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votif

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Etymology and origin of the French word votif

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1374 Jean Goulain, translation of Durand's Rationale More words from the 14th century
Borrowed from
Latin votivus
Ultimate origin
Latin vōtum
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vōtum
French vœu
Spanish boda
English vote
Italian voto
Latin vōtīvus
English votive
French votif
From the same root
English voter ← vote

Pronunciation

Forms

votif (feminine votive, masculine plural votifs, feminine plural votives)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vōtīvus (“promised by a vow, votive”),[2][3][1] itself from Latin vōtum (“vow, promise to the gods, wish”), the source of vœu.[4][5][6] In Christian Latin the word had the special sense “made by virtue of a vow, for a particular intention, consecrated”, applied to gifts, offerings and the mass from Merovingian times.[2][7] The regional use of the adjective for a patronal feast is linked by the TLFi with Occitan voto (“patronal feast”) (a Gascon form is recorded in 1567), from the same Latin noun.[8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded, very rarely, in 1374 in Jean Goulain's translation of the Rationale of Guillaume Durand, in votive promission “a promise made by vow”.[2][9] A 15th-century glossary has the odd form votist, glossed “bound by a vow”.[9][6]

Semantic evolution

After its isolated 14th-century use the word was taken up again in 1636, when Monet's dictionary records tableau votif, a painting offered in fulfilment of a vow and showing the grace obtained.[2][3][10] The Académie recorded messe votive in 1718, a mass said for a particular intention rather than that of the day's office, and the Roman antiquity term boucliers votifs “votive shields” the same year.[2] The Dictionnaire de Trévoux added médaille votive in 1721, a Roman coin struck for a vow made for the emperor's health.[2][10]

Fête votive, the feast of a parish's patron saint in southern France, is found in 1838 in the journal of Eugénie de Guérin, from the Albi region.[2] English borrowed votive from French in the 1590s.[11]

Timeline

  • 1374 – Votive promission appears in Jean Goulain's translation of Durand.[2]
  • 1590s – English votive is borrowed from French.[11]
  • 1636 – Monet records tableau votif.[2][4]
  • 1718 – The Académie records messe votive and boucliers votifs.[2]
  • 1721 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records médaille votive.[2]
  • 1838 – Fête votive is used by Eugénie de Guérin.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (formal or literary) Offered in fulfilment of a vow or to commemorate it: offrande votive, inscription votive, tableau votif.[12][2]
  2. Expressing a vow or a wish.[12][4]
  3. (Catholic liturgy) Messe votive: a mass said for a particular devotion, not that of the day's office.[12][6]
  4. Fête votive: the feast of the patron saint of a parish.[12][2]

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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  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 c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 637b
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 637a
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
  10. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  12. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Votif.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/votif. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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