coût French · revision 16036

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1155, Wace}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ku/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /kut/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''coût''' ''m'' (plural coûts)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|cust]] (1155), ''cost'', ''coust'' (late 12th century; 1530, Palsgrave), ''coût'' (1636, Monet); ''cout'' in the 1990 spelling reform.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the noun of [[coûter]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) from [[la|cōnstō|alt=cōnstāre|t=to stand firm, be settled]], whose sense “to cost” developed with complements of price.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Compare [[pro|cost]], Spanish and [[it|costo]].^(Littré 1873) Old French also had “coustance”, “coustange”, still used by Malherbe.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Wace's ''Brut'' (1155) has ''cust'';^(TLFi) the ''Livre des Rois'' asks ''pur quei dunc te serreie à grief e à charge e à cust ?'', why then should I be a burden and an expense to you?^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In classical French it meant an expense (La Fontaine's ''menus coûts''), and it came to mean the cost price of a thing, especially in law and economics (''coût de fabrication'', ''coût de la vie'').^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) In the 20th century it also took the figurative sense of the unpleasant consequence of a mistake (''le coût d'une imprudence'').^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Related words are ''coûteux'' (about 1185), ''prix coûtant'' (1679) and ''surcoût'' (1978); ''à bas coût'' is the official replacement for English ''low cost''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1155 – ''Cust'' in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1185 – ''Coûteux''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1530 – ''Coust'' in Palsgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1636 – ''Coût'' in Monet.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1679 – ''Prix coûtant''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1978 – ''Surcoût''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|cost]], price: ''le coût d'une marchandise'', ''le coût de la vie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(economics)'' Cost: ''coût de production'', ''coût fixe'', ''coût marginal'', ''à bas coût'': low-cost.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The price, consequence: ''le coût d'une imprudence''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[surcoût]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[coûter]]

+ * [[coûteux]]

+ * [[constant]]

+ * [[la|cōnstō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}