as

Forms

as m (invariable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin as (“unit of weight or money”).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin word, which also came to mean a numerical unit, was perhaps taken from Etruscan as the name of a standard coin in a duodecimal system.^[2] Littré reports two older explanations, from Latin aes (“copper”) or from the Doric form of Ancient Greek εἷς (heîs, “one”), and Etymonline also mentions a link with the Greek word.^[6][7]

Cognate with Occitan as, Spanish as, Portuguese az and Italian asso.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1174 for the face of a die marked with a single point, a sense not found in Latin.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Bloch and Wartburg think the word must have been used early for dice and passed from them to cards.^[3] As the single point was the lowest throw, Old French ne valoir un as meant “to be worth nothing”.^[2][6] The Roman coin sense came into French in 1559 and stayed a learned term.^[2] The word was applied to playing cards in 1546, in Rabelais, and to dominoes in 1792; at cards the ace became, for reasons unknown, the highest card, which reversed its figurative value: être plein aux as “to be rich” is from 1909.^[2]

Passer à l'as “to disappear, be left out” dates from 1894, and fichu comme l'as de pique “badly dressed” from 1861.^[2] In rowing slang (1868) it named the lead oar.^[2] In the First World War it meant a fighter pilot who had downed ten enemy aircraft (1915).^[2] From 1920 it was used of any person of great skill.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1174 – First recorded for the face of a die with one point.^[2]
• c. 1300 – English ace “one at dice” is recorded from Old French as.^[7]
• 1546 – Rabelais uses it of playing cards.^[2]
• 1559 – It names the Roman coin.^[2]
• 1680 – As de pique is recorded.^[2]
• 1792 – It is used of dominoes.^[2]
• 1894 – Passer à l'as “to disappear” appears.^[2]
• 1909 – Être plein aux as “to be rich” appears.^[2]
• 1915 – It names a fighter pilot who has shot down ten enemy aircraft.^[2]
• 1920 – It is used of any person of great skill.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A Roman unit of weight, and a Roman copper coin.^[4][9][10]
2. The face of a die or half of a domino marked with one point.^[4][9]
3. An ace, the playing card with a single pip, the highest card in many games: as de cœur.^[4][1]
4. (familiar) A person who excels in an activity, a champion: un as du volant, l'as des as “the very best”.^[4][1]
5. (tennis) An ace, a serve the opponent cannot touch.^[4]
6. (familiar) Être plein aux as: to be very rich, passer à l'as: to be skipped or conjured away.^[4][9]

Related words

• Latin as
• English ace

Usage notes

In fichu comme l'as de pique, “badly dressed”, Rey rejects Guiraud's pun on hast “shaft” as an explanation of the older sense.^[2] The compound ambesas (1690) is the throw of two aces at trictrac.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 398b
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)