English
fade
Fade comes from Middle Dutch vade ‘weak, faint, limp’, and goes back to Old French fade.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fade‘weak, witless’
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500vade‘weak, faint, limp’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fade
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fade‘weak, witless’
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500vade‘weak, faint, limp’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fade
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “He makes a swanlike end, / Fading in music.”
Every English word from Old French fade
Today it means
adj Weak; insipid; tasteless.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French fade / fade