bissac

Forms

bissac m (plural bissacs)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French bis- + sac¹, with the prefix marking doubling.^[2][3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg see it rather as Latin bisaccium, the source of the inherited besace, taken up again in the 15th century and reshaped after the simple noun.^[6] Wiktionary likewise treats it as a doublet of that noun.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Charles d'Orléans speaks of bissacs plains de souvenance “saddlebags full of remembrance” in a ballade of about 1440.^[7][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names a bag slit lengthwise in the middle, whose two ends form pockets.^[4][8] It was used in the phrases réduire au bissac “to reduce to beggary” (about 1550) and être au bissac “to go begging” (1694), now out of use.^[4][2]

Timeline

• 1440 – Charles d'Orléans uses bissac.^[2][3][7]
• c. 1550 – Réduire au bissac “to reduce to beggary”.^[4]
• 1694 – Être au bissac “to go begging”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) A kind of besace, a bag slit lengthwise in the middle and closed at both ends, carried over the shoulder by peasants, travellers or tramps, a scrip or satchel.^[8][3][1]

Related words

• besace
• sac¹

Usage notes

Littré records avoir de bons tours dans son bissac “to have plenty of tricks up one's sleeve” and notes that à la besace was more usual than au bissac for beggary.^[7] Être au bissac and être réduit au bissac “to be reduced to beggary” are now obsolete.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique 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. 11, 23b
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b 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