pote French · revision 16836

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1898, Esnault|origins=la postis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɔt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pote''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural potes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a clipping of [[poteau]] in its slang sense “friend, mate”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) Rey records that noun for a friend once in 1400, in a letter of remission, and then again in convicts' slang before 1873 as [[m|fr|potot]].^(DHLF 1992) That noun, meaning “post”, is a derivative of Old French [[m|fro|post|t=upright timber]], from [[la|postis|t=doorpost]]; the figurative use rests on the idea of a support (1259).^(DHLF 1992)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first recorded in 1898, in the slang of Paris hoodlums according to Esnault.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 20th century the word spread into general familiar speech;^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) Sartre (1949) has ''mon petit pote''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) It is used as an adjective, ''être pote avec'' “to be pals with” (1946), and as a feminine noun for a girlfriend in the sense of a pal.^(TLFi) The anti-racist slogan ''Touche pas à mon pote'' dates from 1985.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1400 – ''Poteau'' “friend” in a letter of remission (isolated).^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1898 – ''Pote'' in hoodlums' slang.^(TLFi)

+ * 1946 – Adjectival ''pote avec'' and the feminine noun ''une pote''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1985 – The slogan ''Touche pas à mon pote''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(familiar)'' A [[m|en|mate]], [[m|en|buddy]], friend: ''c'est un vieux pote''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar, feminine)'' A female friend, a pal.^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Être pote avec'': to be pals with.^(TLFi)

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ An older, separate adjective ''pote'' survives only in ''main pote'', a hand swollen or numb with cold and clumsy (1606, Nicot; in the 13th century ''main pote'' meant the left hand).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) It is probably the Old French noun ''pote'', ''poe'' “paw” used as an adjective, of disputed origin (see [[patte]]), and is the source of [[potelé]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}