fois French · revision 16305

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la vicis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fwa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fois''' ''f'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|feiz]] (about 1050), then [[m|fro|foiz]], ''fois'' from about 1175 (Chrétien de Troyes).^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|feiz]], [[inh|la|vicis|alt=vicēs|t=turns, successions]], the nominative and accusative plural of a defective noun meaning “turn, succession, alternation”, used in phrases such as “in vicem” “in turn” and, in imperial Latin, for “turn, time”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|14, 410b) Rey connects it with an Indo-European root “*weik-” “to yield”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The initial /f/, instead of the expected /v/, is not well explained.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) The TLFi and Wiktionary suggest that the /v/ was devoiced after numerals ending in a voiceless consonant, such as “deus” “two” and “set” “seven”, while noting the FEW's caution; the Grand Robert thinks of a need to avoid confusion with “voie” and “voix”.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|vece]], [[pro|vetz]], [[es|vez]] and [[pt|vez]].^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) Southern French dialects and the Walloon dialects say “coup” instead, and Franco-Provençal has a derivative “*vicata”, also seen in Old French [[m|fro|foiée]] and [[es|vegada]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'', marking how often something happens: ''une feiz'' “once”, ''soventes feiz'' “many times”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Phrases multiplied: ''ceste feiz'' “this time” (1080), ''une fois pour toutes'' (about 1360), ''toutes les fois que'' (about 1230) and ''à la fois'' “at the same time” (1530), which meant “sometimes” in Old French.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Une fois'' took a strong temporal sense (about 1170), as in the fairy-tale opening ''il était une fois'' (1697, Perrault); ''une fois que'' “once” is 19th-century, and the familiar ''des fois'' “sometimes” is recorded in 1835–1853, with the protest ''non mais des fois !''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Preceded by a numeral, ''fois'' expresses the degree of a quality (1370, Oresme), multiplication (1487) and a superlative (''cent fois heureux'', 1661, Molière).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – Old Occitan ''terce vez'' “the third time” in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Une feiz'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1175 – The spelling ''fois'' in Chrétien de Troyes.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1360 – ''Une fois pour toutes'' in Froissart.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1487 – Used for multiplication.^(TLFi)

+ * 1530 – ''À la fois'' “at the same time”, in Palsgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1697 – ''Il était une fois'' in Perrault's tales.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1835 – ''Des fois'' “sometimes”.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A time, an occasion on which something happens: ''trois fois par jour'', ''une seule fois''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # With a numeral, in multiplication: ''trois fois cinq font quinze''.^(Larousse)

+ # In comparison: ''deux fois plus'', ''cent fois mieux''.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Une fois'': once, at one time, ''il était une fois'', [[m|en|once upon a time]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''À la fois'': at the same time, both.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Une fois que'': once, as soon as.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Des fois'': sometimes, ''non mais des fois !'', expressing protest.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Preposition===

+ # ''(arithmetic)'' [[m|en|times|alt=Times]], multiplied by.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[autrefois]]

+ * [[parfois]]

+ * [[toutefois]]

+ * [[quelquefois]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|vicis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Littré records a separate, technical word ''fois'', which he takes to be a corruption of ''faux'' (see ''faux-du-corps'').^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}