Where does “savoir-faire” come from?
savoir-faire (French) comes from French faire, from Middle French faire, from Old French faire, from Latin faciō, from Latin -torium, from Latin -tōrius, from Latin -tor, from Proto-Italic -tōr.
savoir-faire (French): know-how, savoir-faire
Definitions
- know-how, savoir-faire
Ancestry of “savoir-faire”, step by step
savoir-faire traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French faire
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | faire | to do |
| 2 | Middle French | faire | to do; to make; to choose; to elect |
| 3 | Old French | faire | to do |
| 4 | Latin | faciō | to do |
| 5 | Latin | -torium | nominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative... |
| 6 | Latin | -tōrius | ory |
| 7 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |
via French savoir
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | savoir | to know; to know how; to be able to, to be apt to |
| 2 | Old French | savoir | to know; to be skilled in; knowledge |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | sapere | to know; present active infinitive of sapiō; be... |
| 4 | Latin | sapiō | to be wise, or sensible, discreet, prudent |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | sap- | skill; to taste; to try; to research |