French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French suvent, sovent, from Latin subinde, which consists of sub + inde. The original meaning of subinde was “immediately after”, which then evolved to “repeatedly” and then to “often”.[1]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /su.vɑ̃/
  • Audio (Paris):(file)

Adverb

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souvent

  1. often
    Synonym: fréquemment
    Antonym: rarement
    Hyponyms: à maintes reprises, maintes fois
    le plus souventmost often; more often than not
    le plus souvent possible, aussi souvent que possibleas often as possible
    le moins souvent possible, aussi peu souvent que possibleas infrequently as possible
    Je visite la France trop souvent.I visit France too often.
    Je n’y pense pas très souvent.I don't think of it very often.

Descendants

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  • Haitian Creole: souvan
  • Volapük : suvo

References

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  1. ^ Dauzat, Albert with Jean Dubois, Henri Mitterand (1964) Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique (in French), Paris: Librairie Larousse

Further reading

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Norman

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Etymology

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From Old French suvent, sovent, from Latin subinde.

Adverb

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souvent

  1. often