tôt French · revision 17268

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 881, Sequence of Saint Eulalia (tost)|origins=la torreō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tôt'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Written ''tost'' until the 17th century, ''tôt'' from 1636 (Monet) and in the Académie's dictionary from 1740.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|tost]], [[inh|la-vul|*tostum]], the neuter used as an adverb of [[m|la|tostus|t=parched, roasted, burnt]], past participle of [[m|la|torreō|t=to parch, roast]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|13/2, 118a) The adverb must first have meant “hotly”, hence “promptly”, Rey and the Robert compare the figurative use of [[brûler]] and [[griller]] (“brûler une étape”).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) The Robert and Petit Robert give the etymology as probable.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) Littré cites Old French “chaut pas” “quickly” and Dante's “impresa tosta” “a swift undertaking”, and rejects Diez's alternative “*tōtō citō” “all quickly”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|tosto]], [[ca|tost]], [[pro|tost]] and [[wa|toist]].^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Sequence of Saint Eulalia'' (about 881) it means “quickly, without delay”: they threw her into the fire ''com arde tost'' “so that she would burn quickly”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first sense, “quickly”, lasted into the 17th century (''plus tost que plus tard'', about 1330) and survives in ''avoir tôt fait de''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 980 it meant “soon”, and by about 1160 “early, before the usual or expected time” (''trop tost venuz''), now the main sense.^(TLFi) Phrases followed: ''au plus tost'' (1174–76), ''tost ou tart'' (1176, Chrétien de Troyes), ''le plus tôt est le mieux'' (1636), ''ne… pas plus tôt… que'' (1696).^(TLFi)^(BHVF) Several adverbs were formed by fusion with it: [[aussitôt]], [[bientôt]], [[plutôt]], [[sitôt]] and [[tantôt]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 881 – ''Tost'' “quickly”, ''Sequence of Saint Eulalia''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 980 – “Soon”, ''Jonas''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – “Early”, ''Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176 – ''Tost ou tart'', Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1636 – The spelling ''tôt'', ''le plus tôt est le mieux''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ * 1872 – ''Tôt-fait'', a quick cake.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|early]]: ''se lever tôt'', ''il a su lire très tôt''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Too early, before the expected time: ''il est trop tôt'', ''ce n'est pas trop tôt!'', about time!^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Soon: ''le plus tôt sera le mieux'', ''au plus tôt'', as soon as possible; at the earliest.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Tôt ou tard'': sooner or later.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Plus tôt'': earlier.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(literary)'' ''Avoir tôt fait de'': to be quick to.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aussitôt]]

+ * [[bientôt]]

+ * [[plutôt]]

+ * [[sitôt]]

+ * [[tantôt]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[toast]]

+ * [[torride]]

+ * [[la|tostus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}