Etymologically
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cul-de-sac

Etymology and origin of the French word cul-de-sac

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1307
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French cul-de-sac
English cul-de-sac

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ky.d(ə).sak/[1]

Forms

cul-de-sac m (plural culs-de-sac)[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of cul “bottom, deepest part of a thing”, de and sac “bag”, named from the likeness of shape: a street closed at one end like the bottom of a bag.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record, cul-de-çac in a Paris document of 1307, already means a street with no way out;[2][5] the GLLF and the Petit Robert date the word to the early 13th century.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

By extension it was used for any place with no exit (1636, Monet), and figuratively for a situation, career or undertaking that leads nowhere, first in Saint-Simon (before 1755).[3][2][5] In anatomy it names the blind end of a cavity, as in cul-de-sac vaginal (1835), earlier than the TLFi's first example of 1910.[6][2] Rey notes that compounds with cul such as this one, innocent as they are, were denounced as low in the 17th and 18th centuries;[5] impasse is its synonym.[5][2]

English took cul-de-sac in 1738 as an anatomical term; it is used of a dead-end street from 1819.[7]

Timeline

  • 1307 – Cul-de-çac “dead-end street” is recorded in Paris.[2][5]
  • 1636 – Monet uses it for any place with no exit.[3]
  • before 1755 – Saint-Simon uses it for a situation that leads nowhere.[2]
  • 1738 – English borrows it as an anatomical term.[7]
  • 1835 – A medical journal writes of the cul-de-sac vaginal.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A dead-end street; an impasse.[4][2]
  2. A passage or gallery closed at one end.[4]
  3. (anatomy) The blind end of a cavity: les culs-de-sac de la plèvre.[3][2]
  4. (figurative) A career, undertaking or situation that leads nowhere.[4][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Cul-de-sac.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/cul-de-sac. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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