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coincer

Etymology and origin of the French word coincer

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1773, Bourdé de Villehuet
Ultimate origin
Latin (cuneus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kwɛ̃.se/[1]

Forms

coincer[1] First written coinser (1773).[2][3]

Etymology

It is derived from coin “wedge” with a verb ending.[2][3][4] The noun continues Latin cuneus (“wedge”).[4][1] Littré compares a Lorraine dialect verb of the same form, “to hold in a corner, drive into a corner”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bourdé de Villehuet's Manuel des marins (1773) uses coinser les mâts, to fix the masts with wedges.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The technical sense “to fix with wedges” is the first; in the 19th century the verb spread into common use with the idea of preventing something or someone from moving (the participle coincé in Eugène Sue, before 1857).[7][2] Larousse in 1866 records the senses “to jam in a corner or a narrow space” and “to reduce to helplessness”, and the reflexive se coincer, of a mechanism, is in Littré in 1877.[6] The familiar figurative use, of a person, “to corner, catch”, spread from 1922 (Carco), and the GLLF dates the sense “to arrest” to 1942.[2][7][6] Mountaineers used it from 1911 for wedging a knot, a knee or an arm in a crack.[8]

Timeline

  • 1773 – Coinser les mâts, in Bourdé de Villehuet.[2]
  • Before 1857 – Coincé, unable to move, in Eugène Sue.[2]
  • 1866 – Larousse records the extended senses.[6]
  • 1888–1890 – The noun coincement.[7]
  • 1911 – In mountaineering.[8]
  • 1922 – The figurative familiar use, in Carco.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fix with wedges: coincer des rails.[9][6]
  2. To wedge or jam something; to block a mechanism by accident: elle a coincé sa fermeture éclair.[3][9]
  3. Se coincer: to get stuck: la fermeture éclair s'est coincée.[9]
  4. (familiar) To corner, catch: on a coincé le voleur.[9][6]
  5. (familiar) To stump with a question: il l'a coincé sur cette question; intransitively, to be stuck on something: elle coince sur les maths.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, 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. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Coincer.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/coincer. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·