Etymologically
Log in

profitable

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Old French word profitable

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1120 Lapidaire alphabétique More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin profectus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Old French profitable
English profitable
From the same root
English profitability ← profitable
English unprofitable ← profitable

Forms

profitable[1]

Erec et Enide has porfitable, the head form of Tobler–Lommatzsch.[4][5] The Isopet de Lyon, from the east, has profitauble.[6]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French profiter + -able.[1][7] The verb belongs with porfit (“profit, advantage”), which the FEW traces to Latin profectus (“advance, growth; profit”), the etymon under which it also lists the adjective.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Anglo-Norman Lapidaire alphabétique of about 1120,[7] a text the DEAF places in the first third of the 12th century, and the AND's first citation is of the same period.[10][3] The Cambridge Psalter, of about 1125 in a manuscript of about 1140, has the plural profitables.[11]

Semantic evolution

The adjective described what brings advantage, material or moral: in the AND it is fruitful and bountiful, beneficial to health or effective as a cure, and even, of a rhyme, effective.[3] Of people it meant useful, worthy of trust.[12][9] A Middle French text of 1352 calls the fruit of the Virgin medicinable et prouffitable a toute humaine nature "healing and profitable to all human nature".[9] The word survives as French profitable.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1120 – the Lapidaire alphabétique.[7][10]
  • 1100–1133 – the AND's first citation.[3]
  • 1100–1150 – profitables in the Cambridge Psalter.[11]
  • c. 1170 – porfitable in Erec et Enide.[4][13]
  • 1250–1299 – profitauble in the Isopet de Lyon.[6]
  • 1352 – prouffitable in Middle French.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. profitable, advantageous, useful.[3][9]
  2. fruitful, bountiful.[3]
  3. beneficial to health; effective as a cure.[3]
  4. (of a person) useful, worthy, commendable.[12][9]
  5. wise, knowledgeable.[3]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the word profitable, dates its first citation to the first third of the 12th century, and lists the spellings profeitable, proffitable, profetable, prophitable, proufictable, proufitable, prouffitable and purfitable.[3] English profitable is recorded from about 1300, from the Old French adjective or formed in English from the verb.[14]

Descendants

  • Middle French profitable (→ French profitable)[9][7]
  • Middle English profitable (borrowed; → English profitable)[14]
  • porfit

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch heads the word porfitable, Godefroy, the AND, the DMF and the TLFi profitable.[5][3][9]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ FROLEX 3.0, lexique morphologique du français médiéval (IXe–XVe s.), Base de français médiéval, ENS de Lyon (from the BFM, the Nouveau Corpus d'Amsterdam and the DMF), github.com/sheiden/Medieval-French-Language-Toolkit
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. profitable
  4. ^ a b Foerster, Wendelin; Breuer, Hermann (1914), Kristian von Troyes: Wörterbuch zu seinen sämtlichen Werken, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 217
  5. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 7:1510
  6. ^ a b Rainsford, Thomas, CorMétAF: lemmatised extracts of Old and Middle French verse and prose (990–1500), github (texts by siglum), p. YsLyonB
  7. ^ a b c d e 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
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9:427
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. profitable
  10. ^ a b Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. LapidalS
  11. ^ a b Stein, Achim; Kunstmann, Pierre; Gleßgen, Martin-D., eds., Nouveau Corpus d'Amsterdam, version 4 (lemmatised corpus of Old French texts, after A. Dees), Universität Stuttgart, github.com/michaniets/NCA (texts by DEAF siglum), p. PsCambrM
  12. ^ a b Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon, p. 6:425
  13. ^ Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. ErecF
  14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Profitable.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fro/profitable. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·