bûche

Forms

bûche f (plural bûches)^[1] Old French busche, also buisse.^[2][3][4] The spelling buche is found from 1549 and the circumflex from 1669.^[2][5] Since the spelling reform of 1990 it may also be written buche.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French busche, inherited from Vulgar Latin *busca (“wood, grove”), a neuter plural with collective sense that became a feminine singular, from *buscum.^[2][7][8] The Latin word is recorded in Gallo-Romance texts in the 11th century in the sense “firewood”.^[2][9]

Its further origin is less certain.^[7] Most sources take it from Germanic: Rey says it would go back to Proto-West Germanic *busk (“stick, rod”), which Braune regarded as a form of *bosk, the source of bois;^[2][5] Wiktionary gives Frankish *busk from Proto-Germanic *buskaz, and the FEW files the word in its volume of words of Germanic origin.^[1][10] Pierre Guiraud instead traced both families to Latin buxus (“box tree”), through a Romance adjective *buxicus beside the classical buxeus (“of boxwood”).^[2][7]

Cognate with Walloon boiche, Occitan busca and Italian busco.^[3][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Recorded as busche from about 1130–1160, the word is only ever found for a piece of firewood, although its early derivatives show that it once also meant “wood, grove”.^[2][11] A 12th-century text has pren pur busche “takes for firewood” the yokes of oxen.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Old French derivatives such as débucher “to come out of the wood” (about 1130) and embûche point to an older sense “wood, thicket”, also seen in the Anglo-Norman senses “bush, thicket” and “brushwood”.^[2][11][12] A biblical sense “straw, mote” in the eye (1195) was later replaced by poutre.^[2]

Bûche de Noël was the big log burned through Christmas night (1690).^[2][8] From about 1920 it also names the cake made in its shape.^[2] Figuratively bûche is a dull, inert person (1640), probably from comparisons such as ne se remuer pas plus qu'une bûche (1690).^[2] Later uses include bûche économique, a fuel briquette (1845), and the hard woody fragments in smoking tobacco (1867).^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1130 – First recorded as busche.^[2][7]
• 1195 – Used for a mote in the eye in a biblical text.^[2]
• 1549 – The spelling buche appears.^[2][5]
• 1640 – First used of a dull, sluggish person.^[2]
• 1669 – The circumflex accent is recorded.^[2][5]
• 1690 – Furetière records bûche de Noël.^[2][8]
• 1845 – Bûche économique names a fuel briquette.^[2]
• 1867 – Used for woody fragments in tobacco.^[2]
• c. 1920 – Bûche de Noël names a Christmas cake.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A log, a piece of firewood.^[5][13][1]
2. Bûche de Noël: the yule log burned on Christmas Eve, and a rolled cake in the shape of a log eaten at Christmas.^[5][13]
3. (familiar, figurative) A dull, stupid person: une vraie bûche.^[5][13]
4. Dormir comme une bûche: to sleep very deeply.^[5][6]
5. A hard woody fragment found in smoking tobacco.^[5][13]
6. (card games) A card of no value, a ten or a court card.^[14][7]

Word family

• bûchette
• bûcher
• débucher
• embûche
• bûchille

Related words

• bois
• busc
• embusquer
• embuscade
• débusquer
• English bush

Usage notes

The familiar bûche “a fall”, as in ramasser une bûche (1895, after aller à la bûche, 1875), also “a failure”, is treated by the Grand Robert as a separate word, probably a back-formation from the dialect verb bûcher “to strike, knock”.^[7][2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 v w Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 1:1208
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
10. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 24a
11. ^ a b c Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
13. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
14. ^ Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard