debout French · revision 17254

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1155, Wace (de but)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /də.bu/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''debout'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''de bot'', ''de but'' (1155); written ''debout'' from the 13th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound [[af|fr|de|bout|t2=end]], literally “on end”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|15/1, 219a) [[bout]] is derived from [[bouter]] “to strike, push”, from [[frk|*bōtan]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré rejects the idea that nautical “vent debout” contains a Germanic word for the bow of a ship ([[en|bow]]): the bow is simply the “bout” of the ship.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Wace's ''Brut'' (1155) ''de but'' means “at once, straight away”, a sense limited to Old French; about 1190 it meant “end to end”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old French also used it for “beside” and “absolutely”.^(Littré 1873) The modern sense, of a person “on their feet, out of bed”, is first recorded by Palsgrave (1530); ''contes à dormir debout'' “tall tales” is in Cotgrave (1611), and the exclamation ''debout!'' in Monet (1638).^(TLFi) Montaigne (1580) has ''mourir debout'', still active.^(TLFi) Of things it means upright, set on one end (1616), and still standing, surviving (1680: ''la muraille de la vile étoit encore debout''), a sense found in 1546.^(TLFi)^(BHVF) ''Vent debout'', a headwind, is recorded in 1732, and ''ne pas tenir debout'' is said of an argument that does not hold.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1155 – ''De but'' “at once”, Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1190 – “End to end”.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1530 – “On one's feet”, Palsgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1546 – Of a building, “still standing”.^(BHVF)

+ * 1580 – ''Mourir debout'', Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – ''Contes à dormir debout'', Cotgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1732 – ''Vent debout''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|standing]], on one's feet: ''rester debout'', ''se mettre debout'', ''places debout''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Up, out of bed: ''être debout à six heures''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Upright, on end: ''mettre des livres debout''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # Still standing, intact: ''les murs sont encore debout''.^(Larousse)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Tenir debout'': to stand up, hold together, ''cela ne tient pas debout'', that makes no sense.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Dormir debout'': to be asleep on one's feet, ''une histoire à dormir debout'', a tall tale.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(nautical)'' ''Vent debout'': a [[m|en|headwind]].^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # ''Debout!'': get up!^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bout]]

+ * [[bouter]]

+ * [[about]]

+ * [[aboutir]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}