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blouse

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Etymology and origin of the French word blouse

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
1788 inventory of Lassicourt More words from the 18th century
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French blouse
English blouse
Romanian bluză

Pronunciation

Forms

blouse f (plural blouses)[1] A short-lived spelling blouze appears in fashion writing in 1822.[2]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[2][3][4] The TLFi and Rey, after the FEW, find that a link with blaude (1732), a smock open in front worn by carters and peasants, fits the meaning, but leaves the change from /d/ to /z/ unexplained.[2][3][5] That word is a variant of dialect forms such as blode (1546, Vaud) and probably a feminine of bliaud.[3] Littré too links it to that word.[6]

Etymonline, after Gamillscheg, compares Provençal lano blouso (“short wool”);[7] Wiktionary derives this from blous (“pure, bare”), from Old High German blōz (“naked, bare”).[1] A derivation from the Latin name of the Egyptian town Pelusium, through Medieval Latin pelusia, is rejected by the TLFi and Rey: the town had changed its name before the Middle Ages and had no known textile industry.[2][3][7] Pierre Guiraud explained both this word and the billiard term from a variant belouse, from Latin bullōsa (“bubble-shaped, puffed”), from bulla (“bubble”).[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1788 in an inventory from Lassicourt, for the loose garment of peasants.[2][9]

Semantic evolution

In 1793 it is a cloth smock slit down the front.[2] It was a coarse linen garment like a shirt, worn by peasants and workmen, and at the end of the 18th century began to replace the older word bliaut.[3][2] By metonymy la blouse stood for the workers in the 1850s and 1860s (Verlaine).[2][3] The word then named a work overall worn over other clothes, above all in the medical professions (blouses blanches).[3] As a fashion term it has meant a woman's bodice since 1899.[2][3] English took it as a French word in 1822, and as an English word in 1828.[7]

Timeline

  • 1788 – First record, in an inventory from Lassicourt.[2]
  • 1793 – Agents' reports mention cloth smocks slit in front.[2]
  • 1822 – The spelling blouze in the Observateur des modes.[2]
  • 1835 – The Académie records blouse.[2]
  • 1858–1866 – La blouse “the workers” in Verlaine.[2]
  • 1899 – Used of a woman's bodice.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (dated) A loose smock of coarse cloth, formerly worn by peasants and working people.[4][2]
  2. A work overall worn over other clothes to protect them;[4][2] les blouses blanches, medical staff.[4][2]
  3. A woman's blouse.[4][2]

Word family

  • blouson
  • blousier
  • blouser
  • blousant
  • blaude
  • bliaud

Usage notes

A separate word blouse (1600, in real tennis; 1680, in billiards) is one of the pockets of an old-fashioned or American billiard table.[2][4][8] Its origin is uncertain: a borrowing from the Dutch word bluts (“dent”) is difficult in sound and sense, and the variant belouse (Richelet, 1680) recalls a Middle French belouse with an erotic sense (1585).[2][3][8] From it comes the phrase se mettre dans la blouse “to be mistaken” (1847).[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert 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. 21, 518a
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
Cite this entry

“Blouse.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/blouse. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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