Etymologically
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votre

Etymology and origin of the French word votre

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
937–952, Sermon sur Jonas (vost)
Inherited from
Latin voster via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (vōs)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /vɔtʁ/[1]
  • IPA (informal): /vɔt/[1]

Forms

votre sg[1] Old French vostre; plural voz, vos; reduced forms vo in Picard and the north-east.[2] The Académie wrote vostre in 1694 and 1718, votre from 1740.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French vostre, inherited from Latin voster (“your”), an archaic and popular form of vester, perhaps remade after noster (“our”) and vōs (“you”).[2][4][5][6][1] The form “voster” is found in Plautus and Terence.[2]

Old French had stressed and unstressed forms: “vostre” (from “voster”, “vostrum”, “vostra”) and the plural object form “voz”, which gave the modern plural “vos”.[2] Cognate with Old Occitan vostre, Spanish vuestro, Portuguese vosso and Italian vostro.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Sermon on Jonah (937–952) has the plural vost in faites vost alsmosnes “give your alms”; the singular vostre is in the Passion of Clermont at the end of the 10th century.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

From the first texts it referred to several persons and, as a polite plural, to a single person: Cum est mudede vostra bela figure ! (Vie de saint Alexis, about 1050) and Cumpaign Rollant, kar sunez vostre corn (Chanson de Roland).[2] It is used in titles of respect (Votre Majesté) and, with scorn, of what the other person speaks of (votre hideuse réalité, Flaubert).[7][3]

The stressed form, with a circumflex, became the separate possessive vôtre.[3][1] In informal speech the final -re is often dropped (/vɔt/).[1]

Timeline

  • 937–952 – Vost alsmosnes in the Sermon on Jonah.[2]
  • Late 10th century – Vostres talenz in the Passion of Clermont.[2]
  • c. 1050 – Vostra bela figure, a polite plural, in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1100 – Voz filz, voz freres in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 1740 – The Académie spells it votre.[2]

Meanings

Determiner

  1. your: belonging to or related to the persons addressed: vos enfants.[7][8]
  2. Your, said to one person in the polite form: votre manteau, Monsieur.[7][1]
  3. In titles: Votre Majesté, Votre Excellence.[7]
  4. Expressing scorn or impatience: the thing you talk of: laissez-moi avec votre réalité.[7][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b 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, 349b
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Votre.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/votre. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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