Where does “volte-face” come from?
volte-face (English) comes from French volte-face, from Italian voltafaccia, from Italian faccia, from Late Latin facia, from Latin faciēs, from Latin faciō, from Latin -torium, from Latin -tōrius.
volte-face (English): A reversal of policy, attitude or principle
Definitions
- A reversal of policy, attitude or principle
Ancestry of “volte-face”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | volte-face | U-turn; about face; U-turn; volte-face |
| 2 | Italian | voltafaccia | volte-face, about turn, about-face |
| 3 | Italian | faccia | face; countenance, expression, face; side |
| 4 | Late Latin | facia | — |
| 5 | Latin | faciēs | make, form, shape, figure, configuration |
| 6 | Latin | faciō | to do |
| 7 | Latin | -torium | nominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative... |
| 8 | Latin | -tōrius | ory |
| 9 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |