French word être comes from Ancient Greek οὐσία, Proto-Italic *ezom (Be.), Proto-Indo-European *sth₂éh₁yeti, Proto-Indo-European *bʰowHéyeti, Proto-Italic *som, Old Latin esom
| Dictionary entry | Language | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| οὐσία | Ancient Greek (grc) | |
| *ezom | Proto-Italic (itc-pro) | Be. |
| *sth₂éh₁yeti | Proto-Indo-European (ine) | |
| *bʰowHéyeti | Proto-Indo-European (ine) | |
| *som | Proto-Italic (itc-pro) | |
| esom | Old Latin (itc-ola) | |
| *staēō | Proto-Italic (itc-pro) | Stand. |
| *fuiō | Proto-Italic (itc-pro) | To become. |
| sto | Latin (lat) | (Medieval Latin) I [currently] am (feel). (Medieval Latin) I am [located at]. I stand. I stay, remain. |
| *estō | Vulgar Latin (la-vul) | |
| sum | Latin (lat) | (copulative) I am, exist, have (with dative). |
| *sun | Vulgar Latin (la-vul) | |
| *sun | Latin (lat) | (Vulgar Latin) I am. |
| *essere | Vulgar Latin (la-vul) | |
| estre | Old French (fro) | To be. |
| estre | Middle French (frm) | To be Being (creature, entity). |
| être | French (fr) | (auxiliary) Used to form the perfect and pluperfect tense of certain verbs (including all reflexive verbs). (auxiliary) to be (Used to form the passive voice). To be Being, creature. |