cuisse

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɥis/^[1]

Forms

cuisse f (plural cuisses)^[1] Old French quisse;^[2][3] cuisse from the 12th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French quisse, inherited from Latin coxa (“hip bone, hip; thigh”).^[4][2][5][6] The Latin word must originally have named a joint in general, since the corresponding words in other languages apply to various joints: Old Irish cos (“foot”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣa, “armpit”).^[2] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *koḱs- (“joint, limb”).^[1]

In Latin the word came to mean the thigh and replaced the classical femur, which had become confusable with the word for dung, fimus; the hip was then named by a Germanic word, hanche.^[7][2][8][4] Cognate with Romanian coapsă, Italian coscia, Occitan cueissa, Catalan cuixa and Portuguese coxa.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) a horse has courte la quisse et la croupe bien large.^[10][4]

Semantic evolution

The word is used mainly of people, but also of animals and especially of a cooked bird, as opposed to the wing.^[2][3] Like fesse and cul, though less often, it carries erotic connotations when said of a woman, as in avoir la cuisse légère.^[2][3] Se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter, alluding to Bacchus born from Jupiter's thigh, means to think oneself exceptional.^[2][8] In butchery it gave cuissot (about 1200), for large game, and cuisseau (1651), now for veal.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Quisse in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• c. 1200 – The derivative cuissot.^[2]
• 1347 – Cuissette.^[7]
• 1642 – Cuissard.^[7]
• 1651 – Cuisseau, said of a roe deer.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The thigh, the part of the leg between hip and knee.^[8][1]
2. The corresponding part of an animal's hind leg; the leg of a cooked bird: une cuisse de poulet, cuisses de grenouille.^[8][3]
3. Se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter: to think highly of oneself.^[8][3]
4. (familiar) Avoir la cuisse légère: of a woman, to be free with her favours.^[3][1]
5. (dialectal) A segment of some fruits, such as an orange.^[1]

Word family

• cuissard
• cuissière
• cuissot

Related words

• coxal
• coussin
• hanche
• Latin coxa

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1260b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette