Etymology

savoir-faire

Today it means: The ability to do or say what is appropriate for the occasion. Full definition →

French savoir-faire
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. French · borrowed fromsavoir-faire“know-how”
  2. English todaysavoir-faire

Borrowed from French savoir-faire (“know-how”), from savoir (“to know (how)”) + faire (“to do”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.