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Etymology and origin of the Catalan word cul

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1279–1299 the Valencian court records Clams i crims More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin culus
Ultimate origin
Latin cūlus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cūlus
Catalan cul
French cul
Italian culo
Romanian cur
Spanish culo
From the same root
English cul-de-sac ← cūlus
French cul-de-sac ← cul
French reculer ← cul

Pronunciation

  • Balearic, Central, Northern, Northwestern, Valencia: [ˈkul][1]

Forms

cul m (plural culs)[1] The DCVB records /kuɫ/, and Wiktionary gives [ˈkul] for every dialect.[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cūlus (“backside, anus”).[3][2][4][1]

The same Latin word is French cul, Italian culo, Spanish culo, Portuguese cu and Romanian cur.[5][1]

De Vaan derives the Latin word from Proto-Italic *kūlo- (“back”) and Proto-Indo-European *kuH-lo- (“backside, rear”), with a Celtic cognate in Old Irish cúl (“back”).[6] Wiktionary calls the origin uncertain.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

CICA's first record is in the Valencian court records Clams i crims of 1279–1299.[7] Coromines's first quotations are Eiximenis, who tells of a prince made to kiss lo cul de l'ase “the donkey's backside”, and Vicent Ferrer.[3] The DCVB has the oath per lo cul of God in a document of 1373 from Sóller, and other documents record it between 1389 and 1440.[3]

Semantic evolution

The word also meant the bottom of a vessel and the rear or far end of anything;[3] Coromines often heard it as “the far end of a place” in his fieldwork for the Onomasticon, as al cul de la riera in the Montseny.[3][8] Labèrnia lists the buttocks, the anus and the bottom of pots, and records lo cul d'en Jaumet for a fidgety person.[9][3]

Among the derivatives culassa is recorded in 1640, culata “breech” in 1627 from Italian, and culatxo in 1839.[10] Bernat Metge's word culades, which editors had misread, Coromines explains from a Vulgar Latin verb ⟨culare⟩ with an obscene sense.[3]

Timeline

  • 1279–1299 – cul in the Valencian court records Clams i crims, CICA's first record.[7]
  • 1373 – the oath per lo cul in a document from Sóller.[3]
  • 1429 – cul in the Catalan translation of the Decameron.[8]
  • 1627 – first record of the derivative culata.[10]
  • 1839 – Labèrnia records lo cul d'en Jaumet.[3]
  • 1932 – Fabra defines the part of the body on which one sits.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The buttocks, bottom: the lower back part of the trunk, on which one sits.[12][4]
  2. (colloquial) The anus.[12][1]
  3. The bottom of a container: el cul de l'ampolla.[12][2]
  4. The back or far end of something;[13] cul de món, a remote place.[12][4]

Word family

  • acular
  • aculada
  • culada
  • descular
  • culassa
  • culatxo
  • culejar
  • culer
  • culera
  • culet
  • encular

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. cul
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 2, 1098
  4. ^ a b c Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. cul
  5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2384
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. cūlus
  7. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. cul
  8. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. cul
  9. ^ Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. cul
  10. ^ a b Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 261
  11. ^ Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. cul
  12. ^ a b c d Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. cul
  13. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 7, 625

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cul.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ca/cul. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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