Etymologically
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on French · revision 16241

18 Oct 2026, 04:31 by bogdan “Fix punctuation and links in new French entries” current version
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==Semantic evolution==
− The use of ''on'' was settled before the 13th century.^(DHLF 1992) The form with the article, ''l'on'' (1050), a trace of the old noun, survives in literary use for the sake of sound, Vaugelas (1647) accepted both ''on dit'' and ''l'on dit'' but preferred ''on dit'' at the start of a sentence.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Vaugelas also prescribed the ''t'' in ''prie-t-on'', ''alla-t-on''.^(TLFi) Being masculine in origin, ''on'' takes a masculine past participle (1179), though an attribute may agree with the sense.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)
+ The use of ''on'' was settled before the 13th century.^(DHLF 1992) The form with the article, ''l'on'' (1050), a trace of the old noun, survives in literary use for the sake of sound.^(DHLF 1992) Vaugelas (1647) accepted both ''on dit'' and ''l'on dit'' but preferred ''on dit'' at the start of a sentence.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Vaugelas also prescribed the ''t'' in ''prie-t-on'', ''alla-t-on''.^(TLFi) Being masculine in origin, ''on'' takes a masculine past participle (1179), though an attribute may agree with the sense.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)
''On'' for ''nous'' “we” is recorded from 1666 in Molière and is now usual in familiar speech.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) Occitan dialects use their ''on'' only when the speaker is among the people meant, otherwise the third person plural.^(DHLF 1992)