soif

French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-éyti

Proto-Indo-European *dʰgʷʰéyti

Proto-Indo-European *dʰgʷʰey-

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *dʰgʷʰéytis

Latin sitis

Old French seif

Old French soif

French soif

Inherited from Old French soif, from earlier seif, seit, from Latin sitis. The unetymological -f seems to have been inserted, following cases such as Old French noif (“snow”), possibly to avoid homophony with soit (“[may] it be”) and soi (“-self”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swaf/

• Audio (Paris, France):

  (file)

• Audio (Vosges, France):

  (file)

• Audio (Vosges, France):

  (file)

Noun

soif f (plural soifs)

1. thirst

   avoir soif ― to be thirsty

   faire soif ― to be thirsty

   garder une poire pour la soif ― to save a bit of money for a rainy day, to keep a safety cushion

   jusqu'à plus soif ― until one is not thirsty anymore

   on ne saurait faire boire un âne qui n'a pas soif ― you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink

2. (figuratively) thirst, desire

   soif de savoir ― thirst for knowledge, passion for learning

   soif de pouvoir ― lust for power

Related terms

• assoiffé
• soiffard

Descendants

• → Volapük: soaf
• ⇒ Esperanto: soifi

Further reading

• “soif”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• fois

Old French

Alternative forms

• sai, sef, sei, seid, seif, seit, seyf, soi

Etymology

From earlier seif, from Latin sitis.

Noun

soif oblique singular, m or f (nominative singular sois)

1. thirst

Descendants

• French: soif
• Walloon: soe