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bosse

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Etymology and origin of the French word bosse

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1121–1125 More words from the 12th century
Inherited from
Latin *bottia via Old French
Ultimate origin
Vulgar Latin *bottia
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French bosse
English boast
Derivations
From the same root
English boastful ← boast

Pronunciation

Forms

bosse f (plural bosses)[1] Old French boce.[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman spellings include boche, boce, bose and bosse.[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French boce, inherited from Vulgar Latin *bottia, a form also implied by Old Provençal and Italian.[6][7][2][8] The origin of this form is obscure.[6][7][2] P. Guiraud links it with other words for swollen things (bot, bouton, bouteille) from a stem in ⟨bott-⟩.[6] A Frankish source *bottja (“shoot”), from *bōtan (“to strike”), has been proposed, and Wiktionary and the GLLF accept a Frankish link,[1][3] but the Grand Robert finds it unlikely, and Rey and Bloch and Wartburg reject it because Romanian bot (“ball”) is old and Romanian has no Germanic words of that age.[7][6][2]

Cognate with Old Occitan bossa (“swelling”), Italian boccia (“ball, bud”) and bozza.[2][6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records boce from 1121–1125, for a lump or protuberance, a hump and a swelling or tumour.[5] On the Continent it is first found in the Charroi de Nîmes (1160).[3][7]

Semantic evolution

From the first texts the word meant a protuberance on the body, either a natural hump (1174–1184) or a swelling caused by a blow (about 1278).[6] In Middle French boce, bosse also meant a plague bubo, as in Froissart.[10] The swelling from a blow gave figurative phrases such as souhaiter plaies et bosses “to be in a quarrelsome mood” (1679).[6]

It was extended to a bulge on a flat surface (1409–1410), with technical uses in locksmithing, architecture and sculpture (1558), whence ronde-bosse;[6] Furetière (1690) records it in goldsmith's work, games and painting.[6] It named the natural hump of the dromedary and camel from 1690.[6] Gall's phrenology of the early 19th century linked the bumps of the skull to talents, hence avoir la bosse de “to have a gift for”.[6][10]

Timeline

  • 1121–1125 – Anglo-Norman boce “lump, hump” is recorded.[5]
  • 1160 – Boce appears in the Charroi de Nîmes.[3][7]
  • c. 1170 – The adjective bossu “hunchbacked” is recorded.[6]
  • 1409–1410 – Used for a bulge on a surface.[6]
  • 1558 – Used in architecture and sculpture.[6]
  • 1690 – Furetière records the camel's hump and other uses.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bump or swelling caused by a blow: il s'est fait une bosse à la tempe.[4][11] Ne rêver que plaies et bosses: to be spoiling for a fight.[4][11]
  2. A hump on the back, a deformity of the spine.[4][11] Rouler sa bosse: to knock about, travel a great deal.[4][11]
  3. (anatomy) A rounded prominence on the surface of a bone or skull;[4][11][6] (figurative, familiar) a gift: avoir la bosse des maths.[4][11][6]
  4. The natural hump of some animals, such as the camel: baleine à bosse, the humpback whale.[11][1]
  5. A rounded raised part, a bump on a surface: les bosses d'une piste, creux et bosses; a mogul in skiing.[11][1]
  6. (art) Relief: ronde-bosse.[11][6]

Word family

Usage notes

The Grand Robert lists separately bosse 2 (1516), a short rope used on board ship to hold something fast, as in bosse d'amarrage; its origin is uncertain, perhaps from bosse 1 because of its knots, as the TLFi and the FEW also suggest.[7][12][8] From it come the nautical verb bosser (1690) and embosser (1752).[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 467a
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1191a
  10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ 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

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Bosse.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/bosse. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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