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coin

Etymology and origin of the French word coin

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1160
Inherited from
Latin cuneus
Ultimate origin
Latin (cuneus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cuneus
French coin

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kwɛ̃/[1]

Forms

coin m (plural coins)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cuneus (“wedge for splitting wood”).[2][3][4][5][6] In Latin it was already used of anything wedge-shaped, and in Medieval Latin (1099) of the die for striking coins.[3] Rey calls it a craftsmen's and woodcutters' word, beside angulus (the source of angle), perhaps borrowed through Etruscan from Ancient Greek γώνιος (gṓnios, “angular”); the Petit Robert calls its origin unknown.[3][7]

Cognate with Romanian cui, Italian cuneo, Occitan conh, Catalan cuny, Spanish cuña and Portuguese cunha.[7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the dialects of Gallo-Romance replaced it for the tool with a type “coignet”, and for the corner of a house with “quarre”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1160 for a solid triangle, the sense that gave the corner of a house; the woodcutter's wedge is recorded about 1179 and the die for striking coins in 1164–85.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

As well as an outer corner (coin de la rue, 1312), it came to mean an inner angle: coin des tisons (1567), then coin du feu “fireside” (1671), and in the face coin de l'œil (1530), whence du coin de l'œil “out of the corner of one's eye”, and coin de la bouche (1704).[3] From 1549 it was a small, out-of-the-way spot, and le petit coin is a euphemism for the toilet.[3][8] Du coin, “the nearest, the local one”, is in le café du coin (1832) and earlier le petit broc du coin (1747).[9]

The die sense gave the hallmark on goldsmiths' work (1690) and marqué au coin de “bearing the stamp of” (1690).[3][8] The family includes cogner, cognée, recoin, encoignure and coincer.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1160 – A solid triangle; the corner.[3]
  • 1164–85 – A coin die.[3]
  • c. 1179 – The woodcutter's wedge.[3][7]
  • 1312 – Coin de la rue.[3]
  • 1530 – Coin de l'œil, Palsgrave.[3][8]
  • 1549 – A small, secluded place.[3]
  • 1671 – Coin du feu.[3]
  • 1832 – Le café du coin.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A corner: the angle formed where two lines, surfaces or streets meet: le coin de la table, au coin de la rue.[10][1]
  2. The angle of a room, mettre un enfant au coin, to make a child stand in the corner as a punishment.[10][2]
  3. A small area, spot, part of a place: un coin tranquille, du coin, local, le petit coin, the toilet.[1][8]
  4. A wedge, used to split wood or to tighten and secure, enfoncer un coin, to drive a wedge between people.[7][11]
  5. A die for striking coins and medals, marqué au coin de, bearing the stamp of.[7][8]

Word family

  • quignon
  • coincer
  • écoinçon
  • recoin
  • cogner
  • cognée
  • encoignure
  • cunéiforme
  • Latin cuneus

Usage notes

A separate coin is the imitative cry of a duck, “quack”.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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 m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1530b
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Coin.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/coin. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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