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):

  (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