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caque

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Etymology and origin of the French word caque

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1264 Cartulaire de l'abbaye Saint-Corneille de Compiègne More words from the 13th century
Borrowed from
Old Norse kaggi
Ultimate origin
Old Norse kaggi
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Old Norse kaggi
English keg
French caque

Pronunciation

Forms

caque f (plural caques)[1] Old French caque (masculine), Middle French quaque and kaque (feminine, 1397).[2][3] Littré quotes the spelling cacque from the 15th century.[4]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Old Norse kaggi (“cask, keg”), also kaggr and kakki, found in the compound vinkaggr (“small wine cask”).[2][5][3][6] From the middle of the 14th century the word was associated with the verb caquer “to gut herring and pack it in barrels”.[2][5][3]

Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and Littré take the noun to be a back-formation from the verb,[7][8][4] as do the REW and the FEW,[2] but the TLFi and Rey object that the noun is recorded about 1264, before the verb (1340).[2][5] Rey also sets aside a borrowing of Middle Dutch kaak, which is recorded too late.[5] English keg, earlier kag, comes from the same kind of Scandinavian source.[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1264 a cartulary of the abbey of Saint-Corneille at Compiègne has caque, still masculine, for a barrel in which salted herrings are packed.[2]

Semantic evolution

By extension the word named a cask for other goods: varnish (1389), wine (1405–1449), gunpowder (about 1430), pitch (1606) and melted tallow (1832).[5][2] From its shape it was also applied to the wax-maker's furnace (1730).[5][4] As most of these trades disappeared the word became archaic except for herring, in harengs en caque, the simile serrés comme des harengs en caque “packed tight” and the proverb la caque sent toujours le hareng “one always shows where one comes from”.[5][6][3]

Its gender long wavered: Richelet (1680) says most people who use the word make it masculine, but it has been feminine since the Académie's edition of 1718.[2][5]

Timeline

  • c. 1264 – First record, as a masculine noun, for a herring barrel.[2][5]
  • 1389 – Used of a cask of varnish.[2][5]
  • 1397 – The feminine kaque appears in a Dijon inventory.[2]
  • 1405–1449 – A cask of wine, in the Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris.[2]
  • c. 1430 – A keg of gunpowder.[5]
  • 1677 – The derivative caquette, a tub for live fish, is recorded.[2][5]
  • 1680 – Richelet notes that most users make the word masculine.[2]
  • 1718 – The Académie fixes it as feminine.[2][5]
  • 1730 – Used of the wax-maker's furnace.[5]
  • 1832 – A cask of melted tallow.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A barrel in which salted herrings are packed.[6][3][2]
  2. (figurative) Serrés comme des harengs en caque: packed tightly together.[6][3]
  3. (technical) A keg for saltpetre or gunpowder, or a wooden cask for melted tallow.[3][4]
  4. (regional, Champagne) A wooden or wicker container for carrying grapes at the vintage.[3]

Word family

  • encaquer
  • caquette
  • caquer
  • English keg

Usage notes

The proverb la caque sent toujours le hareng means that a person always bears the mark of their origins.[6][3][4] The Grand Robert lists a second caque, regional (Switzerland) and familiar, for the droppings of small animals such as birds: it is a back-formation from the regional verb caquer “to defecate”, from Latin cacare.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e 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 k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Caque.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/caque. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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