Where does “autrefois” come from?
autrefois (French) comes from French autre, from Middle French aultre, from Old French autre, from Old French vie, from Old French viḍe, from Latin vitam, from Latin vīta, from Latin vīvō — to live.
autrefois (French): previously; formerly at a past time, erstwhile
Definitions
- previously; formerly at a past time, erstwhile
Ancestry of “autrefois”, step by step
autrefois traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French autre
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | autre | other; another |
| 2 | Middle French | aultre | other; another; someone else; another person |
| 3 | Old French | autre | Alternative form of altre; other |
| 4 | Old French | vie | life |
| 5 | Old French | viḍe | — |
| 6 | Latin | vitam | accusative singular of vīta |
| 7 | Latin | vīta | life |
| 8 | Latin | vīvō | to live |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | gʷīwō | live, be alive |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷíh₃weti | to live, to be alive |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷih₃wós | alive, living |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷeih₃w- | to live |
via French fois
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | fois | time, an instance of something happening; a... |
| 2 | Middle French | foys | time; occasion; occurrence |
| 3 | Old French | foiz | time; instance; occurrence |
| 4 | Old French | feiz | time; instance; occasion |
| 5 | Latin | vicis | change, alternation, turn; time, instance; season |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | weyḱ- | to enter in; to settle; settlement |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wey- | to wither; fade; to move, go ahead; to be strong;... |