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caisse

Etymology and origin of the French word caisse

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1346–1347
Borrowed from
Occitan caissa
Ultimate origin
Latin (capsa)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɛs/[1]
  • IPA: /kɛːs/[1]

Forms

caisse f (plural caisses)[1] Quecce (1365), quesse (Amyot); the variant casse was common in the 16th century and gave way to caisse in the second half of the 17th.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Occitan caissa (“box, chest; reliquary”) (13th century),[2][4][5] from Latin capsa (“box for books; case for fruit”),[4][5][6] probably borrowed through trade between the south and the north of France.[4][5] The TLFi holds that a Latin intermediate Vulgar Latin *capsea, assumed by Bloch and Wartburg and the FEW, is not needed, Latin ⟨ps⟩ giving Occitan ⟨is⟩ as in ipsum beside eis;[4][3] the medieval Latin forms of that type are later and probably latinise the Occitan word.[4][5]

The TLF-Étym explains that “caisse” is an Occitanism, while “casse” came partly from Italian cassa and partly from northern dialects that kept Latin /k/ before /a/;[2] “casse” was driven out by 17th-century purists.[2] The inherited French outcome of the Latin word is châsse.[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLF-Étym records it in 1346–1347, at the galley yard of Marseille, for crates in which tiles were carried;[2] earlier northern forms chesse, chasse and quasse are found from 1278.[2]

Semantic evolution

From the basic sense of a large box for packing and carrying goods, it came to name a drum (1611, battre la caisse, grosse caisse),[4][5] the strongbox for money (1636, tenir la caisse 1690), then the funds themselves (1690), a fund-holding institution (1673, caisse d'épargne) and the cash desk (1723).[4][5] Caisse noire “secret funds” dates from 1882.[4]

Technical senses include the body of a musical instrument (1820), a ship's water tank (1831) and the body of a carriage (1832) or a motor car (1906);[5][7] from this, caisse became a slang word for an aeroplane (1918) and a car (about 1970: à fond la caisse “flat out”).[5] In the 16th to 18th centuries it also meant a coffin, a sense the TLF-Étym takes from Franco-Provençal and which gave way to bière and cercueil.[2] Popular speech uses it for the belly (1808), the head (1916) and the chest (1928).[5]

Timeline

  • 1278 – Northern chesse, quasse.[2]
  • 1346–1347 – Caisses at Marseille.[2]
  • 1553 – Caisse in Belon.[4]
  • 1611 – “Drum”, in Cotgrave.[4]
  • 1636 – “Money chest”, in Monet.[4]
  • 1673 – A fund-holding institution.[4]
  • 1723 – “Cash desk”.[4]
  • 1882 – Caisse noire.[4]
  • 1906 – The body of a motor car.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A large box or crate for packing and carrying goods; its contents: une caisse de vin.[8][4]
  2. A box for other uses: caisse à outils; a plant tub.[8][9]
  3. A cash box; a till or cash register; a supermarket checkout.[1][4]
  4. Funds; an institution that holds them: caisse d'épargne, caisse noire.[4][1]
  5. The body of a vehicle, (colloquial) a car.[1][5]
  6. A drum: grosse caisse, caisse claire.[4][1]
  7. (anatomy) Caisse du tympan: the middle ear.[4][5]

Word family

  • caisson
  • encaisser
  • caissier
  • décaisser
  • capsule
  • châsse
  • casse
  • cassette
  • Old Occitan caissa

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Steinfeld, Nadine; Buchi, Éva, eds. (2005–), TLF-Étym: révision des notices étymologiques du Trésor de la langue française informatisé, Nancy: ATILF
  3. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 312b
  7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Caisse.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/caisse. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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