Etymologically
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carrousel

Etymology and origin of the French word carrousel

History Permalink
Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1596, Blaise de Vigenère
Borrowed from
Neapolitan carusello
Ultimate origin
Neapolitan (carusello)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French carrousel
English carousel

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ka.ʁu.zɛl/[1]
  • IPA: /ka.ʁu.sɛl/[1]

Forms

carrousel[1] Carrouselles (1596), carrousel (1620).[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Neapolitan carusello (Italian carosello), the name of a game of Moorish origin brought to Naples by the Spaniards in the 16th century (about 1580, Sassetti),[2][3][4][5] in which two teams of horsemen threw chalk balls shaped like heads at each other: a special use of “carus(i)ello”, a head-shaped clay money box, from “caruso” “shaven head”.[2][3][4] Rey derives “caruso” from Latin “carosius” “carious, scabby”, from Latin cariēs (see carie).[3] The double ⟨rr⟩ comes from association with carrosse, through the shared idea of horses.[3][4]

Littré took Italian “garosello” from “garoso” “quarrelsome”, and Guiraud, quoted by the Grand Robert, compared French “carrousse” “revelry”.[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Blaise de Vigenère's Tableaux de Philostrate (1596) speaks of carrouselles practiquees en Espagne a la genette, tournaments ridden in the Spanish fashion, carrousel is recorded in 1620, from the father of Pierre-Daniel Huet.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It was a tournament or parade in which teams of horsemen performed figures and games (un carrousel vis-à-vis les Tuileries, 1662, in Voltaire), and in 1740 the place where one was held (la place du Carrousel in Paris).[2][3][7] By analogy it became a merry-go-round (Journal officiel, 5 May 1870), a sense now used in Belgium, Switzerland, northern France and Quebec.[2][3][8]

Figuratively it is a rapid succession or whirl (un carrousel d'avions, le carrousel ministériel).[7][8][9] After English it names an airport baggage carousel, and in technology a circular conveyor or slide tray.[3][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1580 – Neapolitan carusello.[2]
  • 1596 – Carrouselles in Vigenère.[2]
  • 1620 – Carrousel.[2]
  • 1740 – The place of a carousel, in the Académie.[2]
  • 5 May 1870 – A merry-go-round.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A carousel, equestrian parade or tournament.[8][9]
  2. The ground where it is held: la place du Carrousel.[8][7]
  3. (Belgium, Switzerland, Canada) A merry-go-round.[8][9]
  4. (figurative) A whirl, rapid succession: le carrousel ministériel.[9][8]
  5. (technology) A circular conveyor; a baggage carousel; a slide tray.[9][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 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. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Carrousel.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/carrousel. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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