septante

Septante is the French word for the number 70, used in certain francophone regions. It is the standard name for seventy in Belgium’s French-speaking communities and in the French-speaking parts of Switzerland (Romandy). In contrast, standard French in France and in many other Francophone areas typically uses soixante-dix to express seventy.

Usage and regional variation can extend to other numbers. In the same Belgian and Swiss contexts, there are regional variants for nearby decades: nonante is commonly used for 90, while 80 can appear as huitante or octante in some Swiss cantons, or remain quatre-vingts in others. The coexistence of septante and soixante-dix reflects historical differences in how the tens were named and has led to differing conventions within the broader French-speaking world.

Etymology and history: septante is derived from the French-speaking tradition of naming tens by combining seven with a ten-related element, and it ultimately traces back to Latin roots for the number seventy. The form is a regional variant of the same numeral concepts that yield soixante-dix in standard French but represents a distinct linguistic path in Belgian and Swiss French.

See also: nonante, huitante/octante, soixante-dix. These terms illustrate how regional variation in number names coexists with the standard French counting system, reflecting historical and cultural differences within the francophone world.