baiser

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɛ.ze/^[1]
• IPA: /be.ze/^[1]

Forms

baiser^[1] Old French baisier.^[1][2] The noun baiser m (plural baisers), first baisair (about 980), is the infinitive used as a noun.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French baisier, inherited from Latin bāsiō (“to kiss”), from bāsium (“a kiss”).^{[3][5][4][1][6]} “Bāsium” was at first an erotic word, used beside ōsculum and avoided by classical writers, Catullus seems to have brought it into written Latin, and it alone passed into the Romance languages.^[3] Rey thinks it may be a borrowing, perhaps Celtic, Bloch and Wartburg note that “bāsiāre” was first used of kisses given to respected persons and early replaced suāvior and ōsculor.^[3][5]

Cognate with Italian baciare, Occitan baisar, Catalan besar, Spanish besar and Portuguese beijar.^[5][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record (about 980) is the kiss between Christ and his disciples, in particular the kiss of Judas.^[3] In the Chanson de Roland Marsile kisses Ganelon on the neck: si l'ad baiset al col.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It was used of lovers from the 12th century, transitively and absolutely (1461), which led to its euphemistic use for sexual intercourse, attested in the 16th and 17th centuries, at first ambiguously, Molière's baiserai-je, mon père? already raised a laugh.^[3][4] The obscene sense has become the dominant one, and in the sense “to kiss” the verb has been replaced by embrasser, except in set phrases (baiser la main) and in North America and Belgium.^[3][5][1] From the sexual sense came “to cheat, screw” (once in the early 16th century, again from 1881).^[3]

The noun baiser “a kiss”, long felt as affected, did not take on the obscene sense and has kept its vitality, beside familiar bise and bisou.^[3][5]

Timeline

• c. 980 – The kiss of Judas.^[3]
• c. 980 – The noun baisair.^[3]
• c. 1100 – Si l'ad baiset al col, Chanson de Roland.^[7]
• 12th century – Of lovers.^[4][3]
• 1306 – Baisemain.^[3]
• 16th century – The sexual sense.^[9][3]
• 1881 – “To cheat, screw”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated, except in set phrases; usual in North America and Belgium) To kiss: baiser la main d'une dame, baiser un crucifix.^[9][1]
2. (vulgar) To have sex (with).^[1][9]
3. (vulgar slang) To cheat, screw, get the better of: se faire baiser.^[1][3]

Noun

1. A kiss: un baiser sur la joue, un baiser d'adieu.^[9][1]

Word family

• baisemain
• baisement
• baiseur
• baisoter
• baise

Related words

• embrasser
• bise
• bisou

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 268b
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert