chique

chique¹ quid of tobacco

Pronunciation

• /ʃik/^[1]

Forms

chique f (plural chiques)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the quid of tobacco is from French chiquer (“to chew tobacco”) according to the TLFi and the GLLF;^[2][3][1] the TLFi traces the verb to an onomatopoeic root imitating the sound of chewing.^[2][4] Bloch and Wartburg likewise see an onomatopoeic stem, and Rey thinks it probably comes from an expressive stem ⟨tchikk-⟩ expressing smallness (as in chicot and chicane) or the noise of chewing, perhaps through the verb.^[5][6] P. Guiraud, as Rey and the Grand Robert report, takes it instead from dialect, from Provençal chico (“piece”) or Norman chique (“piece of bread”), from Latin cicca.^[6][7]

An older use of the word for a small ball or marble (1573 in the Grand Robert, 1642 in Bloch and Wartburg) is a dialect word of eastern France, which Bloch and Wartburg and the REW take from the Rhineland, from the family of Middle High German schicken (“to send”);^[5][8][7] the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give the German verb as a possible origin of the word itself.^[7][9] Littré relates the word to Spanish chico (“small”), and the REW lists the French word under a children's word for “small”, as taken from Italian cicca (“cigar stub”).^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Romme's Dictionnaire de la marine (1792) records it for a quid of tobacco to be chewed, the same year as the verb chiquer.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The sense “quid of tobacco” became old-fashioned when chewing tobacco went out of use, so the figurative phrases that remain are no longer clearly understood:^[6] poser sa chique “to fall silent” (1833), couper la chique “to dumbfound, cut short” (before 1865), ça ne vaut pas une chique “it's worthless” (1878), avaler sa chique “to die” (1894) and mou comme une chique “spineless”.^[2][6] The sense “piece of bread” (1808) is either a comparison or a survival of an older sense “piece”,^[6][2] and “swollen cheek from toothache” (1901, Bruant) refers to a cheek puffed out as if by a quid.^[6][2] In Belgium chique is a sweet, and mordre sur sa chique means to control oneself.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1573 – Chique “small ball” is recorded.^[7]
• 1642 – The sense “marble” is recorded.^[5]
• 1792 – Romme records chique “quid of tobacco”.^[2]
• 1808 – D'Hautel records “piece of bread”.^[2]
• 1833 – Poser sa chique “to fall silent”.^[2]
• 1894 – Avaler sa chique “to die”.^[2]
• 1901 – Bruant records “swollen cheek”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A quid of chewing tobacco.^[9][2]
2. (familiar) Couper la chique à quelqu'un: to cut someone short, leave them speechless;^[9][2][3] avaler sa chique: to die;^[9][2][3] mou comme une chique: limp, spineless.^[9][2][3]
3. (familiar) A swollen cheek caused by toothache.^[9][2]
4. (Belgium) A sweet, especially a hard one: une chique sure.^[2][9]
5. (dated, popular) A morsel of something to eat: une chique de pain.^[2][3]
6. (sericulture) A thin cocoon with little silk; the silk of such a cocoon.^[9]

chique² chigoe flea

Pronunciation

• /ʃik/^[1]

Forms

chique f (plural chiques)^[7][3]

Etymology

The word for the chigoe flea has a disputed origin.^[12][7][3] Larousse calls it a Carib word, and Wiktionary likewise takes it from a Cariban language.^[12][1] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert instead treat it as a use of chique¹ in the sense “small ball”, from the ball the insect forms under the skin.^[7][9] The GLLF derives it from an expressive stem ⟨tchikk-⟩ expressing smallness, and Littré gives it the same stem as Spanish chico (“small”).^[3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert dates it to 1640; the GLLF's first record is in Thomas Corneille in 1694.^[7][3]

Timeline

• 1640 – First record of the flea's name.^[7][9]
• 1694 – Thomas Corneille records it.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The chigoe or chigger flea (Tunga penetrans) of tropical America and Africa, whose female burrows into the skin of people and animals, sometimes causing abscesses.^[12][9][3]