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bourru

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Etymology and origin of the French word bourru

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1542 Du Pinet More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Late Latin burra
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr)
Ancient Greek πυρρός (purrhós)
Latin burrus
Latin burra
French bourre
French bourru
Italian borra
Spanish borra
The word's journey
From the same root
Ancient Greek πυρά (purá) ← πῦρ
Latin burrīcus ← burrus

Pronunciation

Forms

bourru (feminine bourrue, masculine plural bourrus, feminine plural bourrues)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French bourre + -u, properly “coarse like flock”.[1][2][3][4] bourre “flock, coarse hair or wool” is from Old French boure, a form of borre, from Late Latin burra (“coarse fabric with long hairs”), recorded in the 4th century.[1][2][5] The Latin word also survives in Italian borra, Spanish borra and Old Occitan borra.[2]

In the phrase for a phantom monk the word was drawn towards bure “coarse woollen cloth”, the material of a monk's habit.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The GLLF dates it to Du Pinet in 1542.[8] The Grand Robert and the DHLF give 1555, in bourru de plumes or oiseau bourru, meaning “well provided with feathers”.[3][6] Bloch and Wartburg also date it 1555.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the adjective described what had the roughness or look of flock: new, unfermented wine (1584), milk fresh from the udder, a stone not yet worked.[6] Of a person it once meant “dressed in flock”, and the moine bourru (16th century, also moine bourré) was an imaginary frightening phantom.[6][9] Littré explains that the phantom was imagined dressed in flock or coarse cloth.[7]

From 1617 the word, already weakened, applied to a difficult, unsociable person, without any idea of malice.[6] In the classical period it could still mean “brutal, extravagant” and be said of things, as in Malherbe's Ce sonnet est bourru.[8] The title of Goldoni's play Le Bourru bienfaisant, performed in 1771, made the noun familiar for a person who hides a kind heart under rough manners.[6][9]

The adverb bourrument is late (1923) and hardly used.[6][9]

Timeline

  • 1542 – First recorded, in Du Pinet.[8]
  • 1555 – Bourru de plumes “well feathered”.[3][6]
  • 1584 – Said of new, unfermented wine.[6]
  • 16th century – Moine bourru, a frightening phantom.[6]
  • 1617 – Applied to a gruff, unsociable person.[6]
  • 1771 – Goldoni's Le Bourru bienfaisant is performed.[6][9]
  • 1923 – The adverb bourrument is first recorded.[9][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Rough and coarse like flock: fil bourru (uneven, unprocessed yarn).[4][9][8]
  2. Vin bourru: new white wine that has not finished fermenting.[4][8][9] Lait bourru: milk freshly drawn from the cow.[4][8][9]
  3. (building) Moellon bourru: rough rubble stone that has not been dressed.[9]
  4. (figurative) Gruff, surly, unsociable, often with a kindness hidden under the rough manner, as in Un vieux voisin bourru.[4][9][1]
  5. Of a look, voice or manner: rough but not unkind, as in Un sourire bourru.[9]

Noun

  1. A gruff person.[9] Un bourru bienfaisant: a rough-mannered but kind-hearted person.[9][6]

Word family

  • bourrument

Usage notes

Moine bourru (dated) was a phantom of popular belief, said to roam the streets at night, and figuratively a rough, surly man.[9][7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e 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. 1, 637b
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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

“Bourru.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/bourru. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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