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besoin

Etymology and origin of the French word besoin

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (bozoin)
Inherited from
Frankish *bisunni via Old French
Ultimate origin
Frankish (*bisunni)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bə.zwɛ̃/[1]

Forms

besoin m (plural besoins)[1] Old French bozoin (1050), busun (about 1090, Anglo-Norman), besoing (about 1130), the usual form until the 17th century, besoin is found from the 13th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French besoing, inherited from Frankish *bisunni (“care”), a neuter beside the feminine Frankish *bisunnia that gave besogne.[2][3][4][5] The Frankish word was formed with the prefix bi- “by, about”, which came to be only an intensive, and *sunni “care”, the source of soin.[2][4][3] Wiktionary allows that it may have passed through a Vulgar Latin “*bisonium”; a Medieval Latin “bisonium” is found in 12th-century Italy.[1][4]

Another view makes it a back-formation from the verb besogner, Rey prefers the Frankish noun because “besoin” is so early.[3][2] Littré, writing before this was settled, hesitated between the Germanic bi- and the Romance pejorative prefix bes-.[6] Meyer-Lübke compared a Gothic “bisunja” “care”.[7]

Cognate with Italian bisogno and Old Occitan bezonh, the latter borrowed from French according to Bloch and Wartburg.[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis in the phrase être bozoins “to be necessary”.[2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century besoin and besogne shared one range of meanings, the general idea of need or necessity.[2] Besoin named a pressing situation or crisis (about 1090), distress (about 1155) and, from 1549, poverty.[2] Avoir besoin de dates from 1080 and au besoin “if need be” from about 1175.[2]

The plural les besoins, what one needs to live, is recorded from 1665, and the euphemism faire ses besoins from 1743.[2][9] By metonymy the word named a thing one cannot do without (1721, Montesquieu), and, from 1704 also a moral or intellectual craving.[2] In the south-west of France faire besoin still means “to be needed” or “to be missing”.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Être bozoins “to be necessary” in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • 1080 – Avoir besoin de in the Chanson de Roland.[2][6]
  • c. 1175 – Au besoin “in case of need”.[2]
  • 1549 – Used for poverty, want.[2]
  • 1665 – Les besoins, the necessities of life.[2]
  • 1743 – Faire ses besoins.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A need: a demand arising from nature or social life: besoin de nourriture, besoin d'affection.[10][11]
  2. Les besoins: what a person needs to live: subvenir aux besoins de sa famille.[10]
  3. Avoir besoin de: to need.[1][6]
  4. want, poverty: être dans le besoin.[11][1]
  5. (euphemism) Faire ses besoins: to relieve oneself.[8][1]
  6. Au besoin, si besoin est: if necessary.[8][1]
  • besogneux
  • besogne
  • soin
  • soigner

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 275b
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Besoin.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/besoin. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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