souvent

French

Etymology

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”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /su.vɑ̃/

• Audio (Paris, France)

  (file)

Adverb

souvent

1. often

   Synonym: fréquemment

   Antonym: rarement

   Hyponyms: à maintes reprises, maintes fois

   le plus souvent ― most often; more often than not

   le plus souvent possible, aussi souvent que possible ― as often as possible

   le moins souvent possible, aussi peu souvent que possible ― as 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

• Haitian Creole: souvan
• Volapük : suvo

Further reading

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

Norman

Etymology

From Old French suvent, sovent, from Latin subinde.

Adverb

souvent

1. often