Etymologically
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foutre

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /futʁ/[1]

Forms

foutre[1] Old French foutre, fotre.[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French fotre, inherited from Latin futuō (“to have sex with (a woman)”).[2][3][4][5][1] Rey calls the Latin verb of unknown origin, Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to strike”).[3][1]

Cognate with Italian fottere, Spanish joder, Portuguese foder and Romanian fute.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Roman de Renart (1175–1180) in the vulgar sense “to have sex with”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In this sense the verb was usual but often taboo until the late 19th century; it is now dated, replaced by baiser and faire l'amour.[3] Se faire foutre is recorded in 1731, and figuratively, from the early 18th century, envoyer quelqu'un se faire foutre and va te faire foutre “go to hell”.[2][3] The reflexive se foutre de “not to care about, to make fun of” dates from the mid-17th century.[2]

Its general senses “to do” and “to put” are recorded from the mid-18th century, especially in the revolutionary Père Duchesne: foutre son pied (1789), foutez-lui la paix and foutre le camp (1790); in these uses it runs parallel to ficher, which does not seem to be its euphemism.[2][3] The interjection foutre ! is found in 1618, and the noun foutre “semen” in the 15th century.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 1175–1180 – Foutre in the Roman de Renart.[2]
  • 15th century – The noun foutre “semen”.[7]
  • 1618 – The interjection foutre ![6]
  • Mid-17th century – Se foutre de.[2]
  • 1731 – Se faire foutre.[2]
  • 1789 – Foutre son pied somewhere.[2]
  • 1790 – Foutre le camp and foutaise.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (vulgar, slang) To do: qu'est-ce que tu fous ?, n'en avoir rien à foutre.[1][3]
  2. (vulgar, slang) To put, shove; to give: foutre quelque chose par terre, foutre une claque.[1][2]
  3. Foutre le camp: to clear off, foutre la paix à quelqu'un: to leave someone alone.[2]
  4. Se foutre de: not to give a damn about; to make fun of.[1][2]
  5. (vulgar, dated) To have sex with.[1][3]

Noun

  1. (vulgar) semen.[7]

Interjection

  1. (dated) Damn![7][6]

Word family

  • foutu
  • foutaise
  • je-m'en-foutiste
  • jean-foutre

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 924b
  6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert