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cassette

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Etymology and origin of the French word cassette

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1348 Laborde, Émaux More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origin
Latin capsa
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French cassette
English cassette
Romanian casetă

Pronunciation

Forms

cassette f (plural cassettes)[1] Middle French also had quacete (1348).[2]

Etymology

It is probably formed from Old French casse + -ette, the Old French noun, also quasse, being another form of caisse “chest, box”.[2][3][4][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg think the Old French noun probably came from Normandy and derive it from Latin capsa (“small box”), the source of châsse.[7][5] The TLFi and the DHLF prefer this to a borrowing of Italian cassetta, recorded in the 13th century, which other dictionaries proposed.[2][3]

Compare Old Occitan caisseta and Catalan capseta.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1348 (Laborde) for a small chest holding precious things; a document from Dole in the same year has quacete.[2]

Semantic evolution

From the idea of a small box the word was at once specialised to a casket for valuables; by metonymy la cassette du Roi (Furetière, 1690) was the king's private funds, a phrase historians took up.[3][2] It also came to mean a private reserve of money.[5]

About 1960 it took a technical sense, a small case holding a magnetic tape, with the derivatives minicassette and vidéocassette.[3][9] English borrowed it as “a little box” in 1793 and has used it for the tape cartridge since 1960.[10]

Timeline

  • 1348 – First record, for a small chest of precious things.[2][7]
  • 1690 – Furetière records la cassette du Roi.[2][3]
  • 1793 – English borrows the word.[10]
  • c. 1960 – A case holding a magnetic tape.[3][9]
  • c. 1970 – Vidéocassette appears.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (dated) A small casket for money, jewels and other valuables.[9][2]
  2. The private treasury of a sovereign or prince: la cassette du Roi; jokingly, one's own money.[9][2]
  3. A cassette, a small case holding a magnetic tape for recording sound, images or data, and the tape itself.[9][1]
  4. (cycling) A set of rear sprockets.[1]

Word family

  • microcassette
  • minicassette
  • musicassette
  • vidéocassette

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 312a
  7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Cassette.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/cassette. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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