savoir

• sçavoir (obsolete)

From Old French savoir, saveir, from Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapĕre (“to taste”) (and "to know" in Late Latin, by influence of the adjective sapiēns (“wise”)), present active infinitive of sapiō. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁p- (“to try, to research”). The verb was for a long time spelled sçavoir from Middle French until the 18th century, by false regression to Classical Latin scīre "to know".

The forms of the verb with -ch- are a regular reflex of Latin -pi- (/-pj-/). Compare seiche, approcher, hache.

See cognates in regional languages in France : Angevin sçavouèr, Bourbonnais-Berrichon savoér, Bourguignon saivoi, Champenois saouâr, Franc-Comtois saivoi, Gallo savair, Lorrain sahoir, Norman saveî, Picard savoèr, Poitevin-Saintongeais saver, Tourangeau sçavouèr, Franco-Provençal savêr, Occitan saupre or saber, Catalan saber, Corsican sapè.

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• IPA^(key): /savwaʁ/
• Rhymes: -waʁ

savoir

1. to know (something)

   Il est difficile de savoir si elle ment.

   It's difficult to know if she's lying.

   Difficile à savoir (expression; confer Difficile à dire, voir, faire)

2. to know how (to do something)

   Savez-vous nager?

   Do you know how to swim?

3. to be able to, to be apt to (especially in the negative conditional)

   Il ne saurait tarder que...

   It cannot/will not be long before...

   «Il ne saurait être considéré comme un acte de résistance puisque le Hamas a a cessé la résistance dans la bande de Gaza», a poursuivi M. Abbas.» – Le Devoir, 3 September 2010

• To translate "know" in the sense "to be acquainted with", the verb connaître is used.

• (to know): connaître, connaitre
• (to know how to): pouvoir

• à savoir
• savant
• savoir-faire
• savoir-vivre

savoir m (plural savoirs)

1. knowledge

• “savoir” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• avoirs

• saveir (early Old French or Anglo-Norman)
• savier (La Vie de Saint Léger, circa 980)

From Vulgar Latin *sapēre, from Latin sapere, present active infinitive of sapiō (“I taste”), later "I know".

savoir

1. to know
   • circa 1180,, Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette:

     Mes qui l’apele il ne le sot :
     Fantosme cuide que ce soit.

     But he did not know who was calling him
     He thought that it was a ghost

   • circa 1155, Wace, Le Roman de Brut:

     Et mult sot de chiens et d'oisiax

     And he knew much about dogs and about birds

2. to be skilled in

   molt bien savoit le latin

   he was very skilled in Latin

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem sev distinct from the unstressed stem sav, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

savoir m (oblique plural savoirs, nominative singular savoirs, nominative plural savoir)

1. knowledge
2. wisdom

• Middle French: sçavoir
  • French: savoir
• Walloon: saveur