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emmerder

Etymology and origin of the French word emmerder

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
before 1436, Glossaire de Salins
Ultimate origin
Latin (merda)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French merde
French emmerder

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ̃.mɛʁ.de/[1]

Forms

emmerder[1]

Etymology

It is from French en- + merde + -er.[2][1][3][4] The noun continues Latin merda (“dung, excrement”).[5] Compare Italian merda and Spanish mierda.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, the Glossaire de Salins (before 1436), has the literal sense “to cover with excrement”, now obsolete.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The figurative senses appear in the underworld memoirs of the late 1820s: “to scorn someone, not care a rap for him” (1828–29, je l'em... lui et tout le régiment) and “to annoy someone with fuss or talk” (1830, in a supplement to Vidocq's memoirs).[2][6] The GLLF, after Larchey, dates these senses to 1864.[7] The adjective emmerdant, boring or annoying, is in the Goncourts' Journal in 1857, and emmerdeur in 1866.[2]

The pronominal s'emmerder means to be bored stiff, as in a Goncourt quip of 1886, and also to take great trouble over something (on ne va pas s'emmerder avec ça).[2][6][1] Je t'emmerde is a vulgar way of telling someone to get lost.[1][7]

Timeline

  • Before 1436 – “To cover with excrement”, in the Glossaire de Salins.[2]
  • 1828–29 – “To scorn someone”.[2]
  • 1830 – “To annoy”.[2]
  • 1857 – Emmerdant in the Goncourts.[2]
  • 1866 – Emmerdeur.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (vulgar) To annoy, bother (someone) intensely: arrête de m'emmerder.[6][1]
  2. (vulgar) To not care about, to scorn: je t'emmerde, get lost.[1][2]
  3. S'emmerder: to be bored stiff.[1][2]
  4. S'emmerder à, avec: to go to a lot of trouble over: on ne va pas s'emmerder avec ça.[6][1]
  5. (obsolete) To soil with excrement.[2][7]

Word family

  • emmerde
  • emmerdement
  • emmerdeur

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/2, 25a
  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 e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
Cite this entry

“Emmerder.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/emmerder. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·