buse

buse¹ buzzard; fool

Etymology tree of buse¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin būteō

French buse

Pronunciation

• /byz/^[1]

Forms

buse f (plural buses)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the buzzard is a back-formation from Old French buison, also buson (13th century), a bird of prey.^[2][3][4] The Old French word is from Latin būteō (“a kind of hawk”).^[2][5][3] Rey notes that the Latin word was used as a personal name from the 3rd century BC and is probably imitative, like būbō (“owl”).^[3]

busard comes from the same Old French word with another suffix.^[4][3] Cognate with Italian bozzagro, abuzzago and Old Occitan buzart.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1460, in Meschinot's Lunettes des princes, naming a bird of prey, the buzzard.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Because the buzzard cannot be trained for falconry, the word came to mean a stupid, ignorant person in familiar speech (1545), a sense the older buison still had in the 16th century.^[2][3] The proverb on ne saurait faire d'une buse un épervier says that a fool cannot be made clever.^[6][7] It is used as a term of abuse, as in triple buse!^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – Old French buison, buson is recorded in Robert de Blois.^[2]
• 1460 – Buse names the bird of prey, in Meschinot.^[2]
• 1545 – Jean Godard uses it for a stupid person.^[2][3]
• 1845 – The compound busaigle appears.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A buzzard, a heavily built diurnal bird of prey that feeds on rodents: buse variable.^[8][2]
2. (familiar, figurative) A stupid, ignorant person: quelle buse !^[8][9]

Word family

• busaigle
• buser

buse² nozzle, pipe

Pronunciation

• /byz/^[1]

Forms

buse f (plural buses)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the pipe is of uncertain origin.^[3] It is usually traced as a back-formation from Old French busel (“pipe, tube of a musical instrument”), which is from Latin būcina (“trumpet”) with another suffix.^[3][7][1] Meyer-Lübke derives the Old French word from Vulgar Latin *bucellum (“small trumpet”).^[10] Because the earliest records come from the north, some derive it instead from Middle Dutch buse (“pipe”), also buyse,^[3][9][11] but the Dutch word may itself be borrowed from French, as Meyer-Lübke holds.^[3][10] The Académie calls it a Picard and Walloon word.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in the 13th century at Liège, in the Médicinaire liégeois, meaning a pipe or conduit.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

The word names a large pipe, especially for carrying a fluid.^[3] It became a technical term in mining (1752), then in building, public works and motor cars.^[3] In Belgium it is used for the spout of a vessel, and in the north of France it was used familiarly for a top hat, as tuyau de poêle was.^[3] The derivative busette “channel” (1313) went out of use in the 16th century and was taken up again in metallurgy in 1905.^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – First recorded at Liège.^[3][9]
• 1313 – The derivative busette appears.^[3]
• 1752 – First used in mining.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pipe or conduit, usually short, for carrying away a fluid: une buse en ciment.^[8][9]
2. (mining) Buse d'aérage: a wide pipe bringing air into the galleries.^[9][8]
3. A pipe connecting a heating appliance to the flue.^[9][7]
4. (motor vehicles) Buse de carburateur: the narrowing in a carburettor that speeds up the air.^[8][9]
5. A nozzle.^[1]

Word family

• busette