sept et le van.

Etymology: < French sept-et-le-va (1682 as sept & le va in the passage translated in quot. 1688; 1679 or earlier as sept & leva ; 1660 as sept et levat ) < Spanish siete y llevar (1599: see note), with folk-etymological alteration after French sept seven (10th cent. in Old French as sep ; < classical Latin septem : see septem- comb. form), le the, and va , perhaps 2nd person singular imperative of aller to go (see allons int.).The Spanish gambling term siete y llevar is < siete seven (c1000; < classical Latin septem : see septem- comb. form) + y and + llevar to take away (12th cent.; < classical Latin levāre to raise: see levation n.). In it, llevar refers to the amount originally wagered. It has alternatively been suggested that French va represents a shortened form of vade opening bet (1540 in Middle French; < Italian vada , 2nd person singular imperative of andare to go: see andante adj., adv., and n.); however, independent evidence for such a shortened form in French appears to be lacking.