Etymologically
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cuir

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:11. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɥiʁ/[1]

Forms

cuir m (plural cuirs)[1] Old French quir (1080); cuir from about 1160.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French quir, inherited from Latin corium (“skin, hide; leather”).[4][2][5][6] Rey and the Petit Robert relate the Latin word to an Indo-European root meaning “to cut”, the skin being what can be cut off;[2][7] Latin carō (“flesh”) and Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut”) belong to it too.[2][7]

Cognate with Italian cuoio, Spanish cuero, Portuguese couro, Catalan cuir and Occitan cuer.[5][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) quir is the skin of a man: a man must lose et du quir et du peil, skin and hair, for his lord.[4][9]

Semantic evolution

Old French used it both for human skin and for the hide of an animal (about 1160, cuir de tor).[4][2] Under the competition of peau it declined after the 17th century for human skin, except in jokes and in cuir chevelu (1800), the scalp;[2][5] for animals it specialized, about 1170, in the sense of skin tanned and prepared, leather.[4][2]

Faire un cuir (1783) is a wrong liaison such as dis-moi-t-un peu;[5][2][10] Bloch and Wartburg call its origin doubtful and suggest the older phrase écorcher un mot “to flay a word”.[5][2][10] Tanner le cuir à quelqu'un “to give someone a hiding” is found in 1837.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Quir, human skin, in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • c. 1160 – Cuir de tor, an animal's hide, in Eneas.[4]
  • c. 1170 – Tanned leather, in Chrétien de Troyes.[4]
  • 1783 – Faire un cuir, a faulty liaison.[5][2]
  • 1800 – Cuir chevelu.[4]
  • 1837 – Tanner le cuir à quelqu'un.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Leather: the skin of an animal tanned and prepared: cuir de vache, semelles de cuir.[7][12]
  2. A raw hide meant for tanning: commerce de cuirs et peaux.[13][10]
  3. The thick skin of certain animals: le cuir de l'hippopotame.[13]
  4. (dated or humorous) Human skin, cuir chevelu, the scalp, tanner le cuir à quelqu'un, to thrash someone.[7][10]
  5. (familiar) A leather jacket or garment.[13][2]
  6. A wrong liaison, such as an intrusive /t/ or /z/ between words.[13][1]

Word family

  • cuirasse
  • cuirasser
  • cuirassier
  • curée

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1185a
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  13. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)