v. Also 7 tutay, 9 tutoy, (9 tutoyé). [a. and ad. F. tutoyer, f. the sing. pronoun tu, toi, te, as used in speaking to a person instead of the pl. vous: see Littré.] trans. To use the singular pronoun tu, toi, te (‘thou’ and ‘thee’) to; to ‘thou’ (any one); to treat as an intimate; to address with familiarity, or as an inferior in rank or order. Also intr.
1697. J. Dennis, Plot & no Plot, II. 24. There is an air of greatness in Tutaying men.
1819. Hermit in London, III. 159. They [nobles] often tutoyered the leading favourite.
1840. Caroline Fox, Jrnls. & Lett., vi. (1882), 53. He … promised to tutoyer us as long as we liked, but not to answer to thee.
1852. Mrs. Browning, Lett., 7 April (1897), II. 63. The Greek in Greek costume who tutoyéd her, and kissed her.
1861. T. Heywood, S. Lancs. Dial., in Chetham Misc., III. 9. Tutoying still pervades South Lancashire.
1865. Kingsley, Herew., xvi. He was growing warm, and began to tutoyer Hereward.
1895. Edin. Rev., Oct., 386. Freron thought he perceived … that ‘tutoying’ might be displeasing to him,… so he instantly substituted ‘vous.’
Hence ǁ Tutoiement, the action of addressing in this way; ‘thouing.’
1817. Lady Morgan, France, I. (1818), I. 72. The tutoiement universal in France, in all the intercourse of friendship and intimacy, is always used among the peasants, except to their superiors.
1879. Scribner’s Mag., XIX. 97/1. It was not merely the tutoiement that struck him as saucy.
1898. Daily News, 18 April, 4/5. M. Aulard and M. Sigismond Lacroix read … papers, the one on the ‘tutoiement,’ or use of the pronouns ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ during the Revolution.
