doute French · revision 16420

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (dute)|origins=la dubitō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dut/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''doute''' ''m'' (plural doutes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|dute]], ''dote''; the spelling ''doubte'' was used in Middle French, though Palsgrave notes that it was pronounced ''doute''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+ The word was usually feminine until the 16th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a noun formed from the verb [[douter]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) “Douter” is inherited from [[la|dubitō|t=to hesitate, be uncertain]], derived from [[m|la|dubius|t=wavering]], from [[m|la|duo|t=two]]; in Late Latin it also meant “to fear”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (''grant dute''), meaning “fear”, the usual sense of the verb in Old French.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “fear” was frequent in the Middle Ages and was later taken over by [[redouter]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The modern sense “hesitation, uncertainty” is in Wace (1155, ''estre en dote''), and a nuance of suspicion or mistrust appears at the end of the 15th century (Commynes, ''mille doubte'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Sans doute'' meant “certainly” in the 13th century, “granted” about 1464, and only from 1665 “probably”, its usual modern sense.^(DHLF 1992) Descartes made it a philosophical term in 1637 (''le doute méthodique'').^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Dute'' “fear” in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1155 – “Uncertainty”, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – ''Sans doute'' “certainly”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Late 15th century – “Suspicion”, in Commynes.^(TLFi)

+ * 16th century – The masculine gender prevails.^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1637 – Philosophical doubt, in Descartes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1665 – ''Sans doute'' “probably”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|doubt]], [[m|en|uncertainty]]: ''être dans le doute'', ''dans le doute, abstiens-toi''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Mettre en doute'': to question, ''hors de doute'': certain.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A [[m|en|suspicion]], misgiving: ''j'ai des doutes sur sa sincérité''.^(Larousse)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' The suspension of judgement: ''le doute méthodique'' of Descartes.^(GLLF 1989)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Sans doute'': probably, ''sans aucun doute'': certainly.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[douter]]

+ * [[douteux]]

+ * [[redouter]]

+ * [[dubitatif]]

+ * [[indubitable]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Sans doute'' now weakly means “probably”; to say “certainly” French uses ''sans aucun doute'' or ''nul doute''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}