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bouchée

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Etymology and origin of the French word bouchée

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1120 More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin bucca
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin bucca
Catalan boca
French bouche
French bouchée
Italian bocca
Romanian bucă
Spanish boca
From the same root
Latin buccella ← bucca
Latin buccula ← bucca
Italian boccale ← bocca
Italian imboccare ← bocca

Pronunciation

Forms

bouchée f (plural bouchées)[1] Old French buchiee (about 1120) and bouchie.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French bouche + -ée, first as Old French buchiee.[2][5][3][1] Bloch and Wartburg think the word probably already existed as Vulgar Latin *buccāta, since it is found in all the Romance languages;[6] Wiktionary compares Italian boccata, Romanian bucată and Spanish bocado.[1] The noun bouche is from Latin bucca (“puffed-out cheek”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded as buchiee about 1120, meaning the amount of food put into the mouth at one time; the Livre des Rois asks for une bouchie de pain “a mouthful of bread”.[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

From the sense “mouthful” come figurative phrases: n'en faire qu'une bouchée (1690) “to gobble something up” and also “to beat someone easily”, pour une bouchée de pain “for next to nothing” and mettre les bouchées doubles “to work twice as fast”.[3][5][7]

By metonymy it names various pastries, originally small ones: the bouchée à la reine (1808), a little vol-au-vent, and the bouchée des dames (1810), now gone; a bouchée au chocolat is a filled chocolate.[3][5][7] In Quebec prendre une bouchée means “to grab a bite”.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1120 – First recorded as buchiee.[2][3]
  • 1690 – N'en faire qu'une bouchée is recorded.[3]
  • 1808 – Bouchée à la reine “small vol-au-vent”.[5][3]
  • 1810 – The Almanach des gourmands uses it for a pastry.[7][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A mouthful: the amount of solid food put into the mouth at once.[5][8][1]
  2. Ne faire qu'une bouchée de: to gobble something, or (figurative) to beat someone with ease.[5][7]
  3. Pour une bouchée de pain: for a pittance.[5][7]
  4. Mettre les bouchées doubles: to speed up, to work twice as hard.[5][7]
  5. (cooking) Bouchée à la reine: a puff-pastry case filled with white meat in sauce, a vol-au-vent.[5][3]
  6. A filled chocolate.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Bouchée.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/bouch%C3%A9e. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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