douche

Forms

douche f (plural douches)^[1] Montaigne first cites the Italian form doccia (1580–81), and the adapted form doulche is recorded in 1584.^[2][3] The variants douge and douje were common in the 16th to 18th centuries.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian doccia (“jet of water directed on the body”), found in this sense since 1499,^[2][3] a deverbal noun from docciare (“to pour in a jet”) (first half of the 14th century), itself derived from the same Italian noun in its older sense “conduit, pipe” (13th century).^[2][3] The origin of the noun is uncertain: it may come from doccione (“conduit”) (14th century), taken from Latin ductiō (“conveyance (of water)”), a word of imperial Latin derived from dūcō (“to lead”), with the ending ⟨-one⟩ mistaken in Italian for the augmentative suffix.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert all call the derivation from the Latin word probable.^[5][4][6] Picoche places it in the family of conduire.^[7]

Littré compares Spanish ducha.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Montaigne first uses the Italian word in his Journal de voyage (1580–81), for the conduits that carried hot water in the baths of La Villa, glossing it certein esgout “a kind of drain”; he already applies it to a jet of water directed on the body as a cure, as distinct from a bath.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word at first belonged to spas and medical treatment; the shower taken simply for cleanliness is named only in the 19th century.^[3] In 1870 it took the figurative sense of rough treatment, and it also came to mean a soaking of rain or other liquid, used metaphorically from 1829 and figuratively in familiar speech from 1870.^[3] It now also names the shower room and the shower fitting.^[3][9] Douche écossaise, a shower alternately hot and cold, figuratively means bad news that follows hard on good.^[6][9] In African French it names any place for washing, and also the toilets.^[3]

The English word douche is recorded from 1766, taken from French.^[10]

Timeline

• 1499 – The Italian doccia is recorded in the sense “shower”.^[2][3]
• 1580–1581 – Montaigne cites the Italian word in his Journal de voyage.^[2][3]
• 1584 – The adapted form doulche appears in J. Pidoux.^[2][11]
• 1640 – Oudin records it for a jet of water on the body; the verb doucher appears the same year.^[9][3]
• 1766 – The English word douche is first recorded.^[10]
• 1829 – First metaphorical use for a soaking.^[3]
• 1870 – Figurative sense “rough treatment”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A shower, a spray or jet of water over the body for washing: prendre une douche.^[12][6]
2. The fitting or installation for taking a shower.^[12][9]
3. A soaking from rain or a splashed liquid.^[12]
4. (figurative) Something that dashes a hope or an illusion; a disappointment.^[12][3]
5. Douche écossaise: a shower alternately hot and cold; figuratively, a very unpleasant event that follows straight after a very pleasant one.^[12][6]
6. (Africa) A place for washing; also, the toilets.^[3]

Word family

• doucher
• doucheur
• douchette

Related words

• conduire
• Italian doccia
• English douche

References

1. ^ a b 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 d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)