English
accost
Accost comes from Middle French accoster, from Old French acoster ‘to stand beside’, and ultimately from coste ‘side, flank’.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400coste‘side, flank’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400acoster‘to stand beside’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600accoster
- Englishearliest quotation 1596accost
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400coste‘side, flank’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400acoster‘to stand beside’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600accoster
- Englishearliest quotation 1596accost
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book V: “For all the Shores, which to the Sea accost”.
Linked words
through Old French coste ‘side, flank’
Today it means
verb To approach and speak to boldly or aggressively, as with a demand or request.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French coste / accost