Etymologically
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creuser

Etymology and origin of the French word creuser

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1172, Chrétien de Troyes, Chevalier au lion
Ultimate origins
Latin (*crosus)French (-er)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French creux
French creuser

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kʁø.ze/[1]

Forms

creuser[1] Old French croser, cruser;[2][3][4] creuser from the 13th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from French creux + -er.[5][4][2][3] Bloch and Wartburg think Creux probably of Celtic origin, from a hypothetical Celtic form, since it is found across Gallo-Romance, in Old Occitan cros and in the Rhaeto-Romance and northern Italian dialects.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier au lion (1172) crosé means made hollow by emptying out its substance.[5]

Semantic evolution

Péan Gatineau (first half of the 13th century) uses it for making something by digging; the Chanson des Saxons has croser souz terre à pic et à martel.[5][3] La Fontaine (1685) has it figuratively for going deeply into a subject, and Madame de Sévigné (1671) ma tête et mon esprit se creusent.[5]

Se creuser la tête (Père Duchesne has se creuser la tronche in 1791) is to rack one's brains, and creuser l'estomac to make hungry;[7][8][2] ça creuse ! is modern familiar French.[7][8][2] Illness or fatigue creuse les joues.[2][8]

Timeline

  • 1172 – Crosé, in Chrétien de Troyes.[5]
  • 13th century – The derivative creusement.[6]
  • First half of the 13th century – “To dig”, in Péan Gatineau.[5]
  • 1671 – Se creuser, in Madame de Sévigné.[5]
  • 1685 – “To go deeply into”, in La Fontaine.[5]
  • 1791 – Se creuser la tronche.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To dig (a hole, a trench, a well); to dig into: creuser la terre, creuser un puits.[8][3]
  2. To hollow out: la mer creuse les falaises.[8][1]
  3. To make hollow or concave: creuser la taille; of illness, to make (the cheeks) hollow.[8][2]
  4. (figurative) To go deeply into: creuser une idée.[8][5]
  5. Se creuser la tête, la cervelle: to rack one's brains, ça creuse, it gives you an appetite.[8][9]
  6. Creuser sa tombe: to dig one's own grave.[1][3]

Word family

  • creusement
  • creuseur

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Creuser.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/creuser. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·