voie

From Old French voie, veie, inherited from Latin via. Doublet of via. Unrelated to voir and voirie, despite influencing the latter[1].

• IPA^(key): /vwa/, /vwɑ/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophones: voient, voies, vois, voit, voix (general), voua, vouas, vouât (one pronunciation)
• Rhymes: -a

voie f (plural voies)

1. way, track

   Synonym: (Switzerland) vie

2. lane (of a highway)
3. (figuratively) calling, path in life

   trouver sa voie ― to find one's calling

• dévier
• vionnet (Switzerland, rare)

voie

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of voir

• “voie”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• veie (Anglo-Norman)

From Latin via.

voie f (oblique plural voies, nominative singular voie, nominative plural voies)

1. path; lane; route
2. trip; journey

• chemin
• curs
• route

• Middle French: voie
  • French: voie

Either from Vulgar Latin, remodeled from Latin volō, from Proto-Italic *welō or Old Church Slavonic волꙗ (volja), Proto-Slavic *voľà, both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose; to want”).

Has also influenced variants of the verb vrea, from Latin volere (compare vroi, voi) due to similarity of sound and meaning, especially after the weak r is removed. The existence of Italian voglia with a similar meaning is also most likely a coincidence, and a Latin etymology for voie (from a root *volia for volō on the basis of the disappearance of the intervocalic l in some other words like muiere, foaie, găină, pai), while technically possible, is quite improbable (the presence of the related word nevoie also makes this less plausible, and nonetheless, the result would probably have normally been *voaie, as with foaie, from Latin folia); however, there are other cases where words can be of two originally different origins with similar meanings and sound and coincide to form one word after a while through confusion of the two.

Also compare Bulgarian воля (volja), Serbo-Croatian volja.

Arguments on the Old Bulgarian origin are based on:

1. the existence of the form nevoie, similar to Romanian неволя, which doesn’t take into account that it is a simple negation form of voie form and not a separate word on its own, so this argument doesn't make it any less probable;
2. that if the word is of Vulgar Latin origin the form would probably normally be *voaie, as with foaie from Latin folia. However, there are other cases where words can be of two originally different origins with similar meanings and sound and coincide to form one word after a while through confusion of the two.

Also note that Old Church Slavonic волꙗ (volja) entered Slavic vocabularly with the translation of Bible in 9th century, based on the language spoken in Makedonia of the presumptive Slavic speakers. It is highly likely that these speakers adopted a Vulgar Latin word to express this abstract meaning.

Compare to English volition of Latin origin, and German Wille, first attested only one century earlier than the Old Church Slavonic form.

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈvo.je/
• Hyphenation: vo‧ie
• Rhymes: -oje

voie f (plural voi)

1. will
2. permission

   Nu ai voie să faci așa ceva.

   You don't have permission to do something like that.

• voință, vrere

• avea voie
• voios

• nevoie