biscuit

Forms

biscuit m (plural biscuits)^[1] Old French bescuit and bescoit;^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman also besquit and bisquit.^[2][3][4] The spelling biscuit dates from 1538.^[2][5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French bescuit (“twice-cooked”), inherited from Medieval Latin biscoctus (“twice-baked”).^[2][1][7] The medieval Latin word, used as a noun with pānis (“bread”) understood, is made of bis (“twice”) and coctus (“cooked”), the past participle of coquō.^[2][8] In 1538 the Old French form was remade after the Latin adverb.^[2][5][6] The Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and the GLLF describe it as formed from bis- and cuit.^[5][9][10]

Cognate with Old Occitan bescueit, Spanish bizcocho and Italian biscotto.^[2][3] biscotte is a borrowing of the Italian word.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bescuit is recorded about 1112 for bread baked twice, often in pain bescuit.^[2][5] Joinville (about 1309) explains that such loaves were so called because they were baked twice.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The twice-baked bread was a thin, very hard cake stored for long sea voyages (biscuit de mer), hence the proverb il ne faut pas s'embarquer sans biscuit (1587), “don't undertake anything unprepared”.^[2][11] Its successor, the biscuit de soldat, replaced bread as the ration of French soldiers in 1792.^[2]

From the 17th century the word also names a dry cake of flour, eggs and sugar (1660); biscuit de Savoie is found in 1607 and biscuit à la cuiller in 1827, and the dry biscuit became an industrial product in the 20th century.^[2] Technical senses followed: the potter's paste before glazing (1751) and an unglazed white porcelain (1798), compared to the porous soldier's biscuit, then a figurine made of it.^[2][12] By likeness it is also the cuttlebone given to cage birds (1834).^[2]

In slang it meant a difficulty (1862) and, among taxi drivers, a traffic fine (1935).^[2][12] English borrowed the Old French word early in the 14th century; its spelling biscuit dates from the early 19th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1112 – Bescuit is recorded.^[2][5]
• early 14th century – English borrows it as besquite.^[8]
• 1538 – The spelling biscuit appears.^[2][6]
• 1587 – Il ne faut pas s'embarquer sans biscuit is recorded.^[2]
• 1607 – Biscuit de Savoie is recorded.^[2]
• 1660 – It names a dry cake of flour, eggs and sugar.^[2]
• 1751 – The Encyclopédie uses it for the potter's paste before glazing.^[12][2]
• 1792 – Soldier's biscuit replaces bread in rations.^[2]
• 1798 – It names unglazed porcelain.^[2]
• 1827 – Biscuit à la cuiller is recorded.^[2]
• 1935 – Taxi drivers' slang uses it for a traffic fine.^[2][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) Hard, dry flat bread kept as a reserve food for sailors and soldiers: s'embarquer sans biscuit, to set out without preparing.^[9][10][12]
2. A small dry cake or cookie: un paquet de biscuits au chocolat.^[9][10]
3. A sponge cake of flour, eggs and sugar: biscuit de Savoie.^[10][12]
4. Unglazed white porcelain, or a figurine made of it.^[2][3]
5. (slang) A traffic ticket.^[12][2]

Word family

• biscuiterie
• biscuité

Related words

• cuire
• cuit
• biscotte
• English biscuit

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 x y z 27 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1164b
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ a b c d e f g 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