bout French · revision 17415

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=c. 1121 (“blow”); 1180 (“end”)|origins=frk *bōtan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bu/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /but/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bout''' ''m'' (plural bouts)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a noun formed on the Old French verb [[m|fro|bouter|t=to strike, push; to put]] (see [[bouter]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(FEW|15/1, 192b)^(Wiktionary) That verb comes from [[frk|*bōtan|t=to strike]], Bloch and Wartburg compare [[non|bauta|t=to strike]], the Petit Robert Middle High German “bôzen” “to knock”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) The Germanic word passed rather late into Gallo-Romance, so that its intervocalic “t” was kept; [[it|buttare]] and [[es|botar]] come from French.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ The modern sense, “end of an object” (1180–1200), may be a metonymy like those behind “pousse” and “pointe”, with the movement lost: the point where a thing thrusts out.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1121 in the sense “blow”, kept in Old French; the sense “end” appears about 1180.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ After Old French ''bout'' lost the dynamic sense “blow”, and with the verb going out of use after the 16th century, no link with ''bouter'' was felt.^(DHLF 1992) At sea it named the bow of a ship (1288), now only in phrases such as ''bout au vent''.^(DHLF 1992) ''Bout à bout'', first “on equal terms” (1268–1271), took the sense “end to end” in 1573, ''à tout bout de champ'' dates from 1636, after ''à chaque bout de champ'' (14th century).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From “end” came “piece, scrap” (''un bout de pain'') and many phrases: ''venir à bout de'', ''être à bout'', ''joindre les deux bouts'', ''voir le bout du tunnel''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992) The derivative [[debout]] meant “end to end” in Old French and took its modern sense in 1530.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1121 – ''Bout'' “blow”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1180–1200 – “End of an object”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1288 – The bow of a ship.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1319 – ''Aboutir''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1573 – ''Bout à bout'' “end to end”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1636 – ''À tout bout de champ''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|end]], tip or extremity of something: ''le bout du nez'', ''au bout de la rue''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # The end of a period or process: ''au bout d'une heure'', ''jusqu'au bout''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A piece, a bit: ''un bout de pain'', ''un bout de papier''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Venir à bout de'': to overcome, ''être à bout'': to be exhausted, ''à bout portant'': point-blank.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Bout à bout'': end to end, ''à tout bout de champ'': at every turn.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[debout]]

+ * [[aboutir]]

+ * [[embout]]

+ * [[bouton]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bouter]]

+ * [[boutade]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}