Etymologically
Log in

chier

Etymology and origin of the French word chier

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1202, Roman de Renart
Inherited from
Latin caco via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (cacō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin caco
English poppycock
French chier

Pronunciation

Forms

chier[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chier, inherited from Latin cacō (“to defecate”).[2][3][4][5] The regional and less coarse verbs caquer and caguer (the latter through Old Occitan cagar) come from the same Latin verb, and so do caca and cagot.[3][1]

Cognate with Italian cacare, Spanish cagar, Portuguese cagar and Catalan cagar.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Roman de Renart (about 1202) has it in the plain sense, to void excrement;[2][7] Littré quotes a branch in which an animal chia seur le musel au vilain and woke him.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Rabelais (1534) has c'est bien chié “that is well said”, and the participle chié still means “terrific” in slang.[2][3] Envoyer chier quelqu'un “to tell someone to get lost” is found in 1649, in a Fronde pamphlet, and à chier dessus “awful” in 1742.[8][3] Brantôme has chier sur la Bible, “to abandon one's faith”.[7]

In the 20th century the verb produced many figurative phrases: (se) faire chier “to (get) bored, to annoy”, en chier “to have a hard time”, ça va chier “there'll be trouble” and il n'y a pas à chier “there's no getting round it” (1920), and nul à chier (about 1985).[3][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1202 – In the Roman de Renart.[2]
  • 1534 – C'est bien chié, in Rabelais, chienlit.[2][3]
  • 1578 – The derivative chiasse.[4][3]
  • 1649 – Envoyer chier.[8]
  • 1742 – À chier dessus.[8]
  • 1920 – Ça va chier, il n'y a pas à chier, and chiant.[3]
  • c. 1985 – Nul à chier.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (vulgar) To shit, defecate.[9][1]
  2. Faire chier quelqu'un: to annoy, bug someone, se faire chier, to be bored stiff.[9][10]
  3. Envoyer chier quelqu'un: to tell someone to get lost.[9][8]
  4. En chier: to have a really hard time, ça va chier, there's going to be trouble.[9][3]
  5. À chier, nul à chier: awful, useless.[9][10]

Word family

  • chiasse
  • chieur
  • chiure
  • chiotte
  • chiant
  • chienlit

Usage notes

The verb and most of its derivatives are vulgar;[3][9] chiant “boring, annoying” (1920) and chiure (1642), used of fly-specks, are less strongly marked.[3][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 k l 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 16a
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Chier.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/chier. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·