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fusée

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Etymology and origin of the French word fusée

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1230 Gaidon More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Latin fusus

Pronunciation

Forms

fusée f (plural fusées)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French fus + -ée, the Old French word for “spindle” being the outcome of Latin fūsus (“spindle”), which survives in the diminutive fuseau.[2][3][4][5][6] The TLFi and Bloch and Wartburg treat that Old French noun as unrecorded.[2][5] For the sense “rocket”, Pierre Guiraud saw a crossing with fuser “to melt, spread”, which the Grand Robert accepts.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1230, in the chanson de geste Gaidon, meaning the quantity of thread wound on a spindle.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the thread wound on a spindle the word passed, by the end of the 13th century, to the spindle itself; that first sense is now out of use.[3][2] The image of tangled thread gave démêler la fusée “to unravel an intricate affair” (1553), and brouiller la fusée (1632).[2][7][8] By likeness of shape, fusée took many technical senses where fuseau would have done as well: in heraldry (1644), in watchmaking (1680), in the navy (1694), in mechanics for the end of an axle (1845), and for the part of a sword's handle between guard and pommel (1873).[2][3][9]

About 1400 it was applied, again by likeness of shape, to a firework, and then to a projectile driven by reaction; under the influence of fuser it also named a jet of liquid, and figuratively a quick, brilliant outburst, as of laughter (1760, Voltaire).[2][3][5] In 1736 it named the fuse that sets off an explosive.[2][3] As a projectile, the word moved from fireworks to the military and, from 1933, to space flight, a sense that now dominates the others (fusée à étages); figurative uses such as partir comme une fusée are now heard against that background.[3]

Timeline

  • 1230 – First record, for the thread wound on a spindle, in Gaidon.[2]
  • late 13th century – Used for the spindle itself.[2][3]
  • c. 1400 – A Hainaut account uses it for a firework or artillery rocket.[2][5]
  • 1553 – Figurative sense “tangled affair” in Du Villars.[2][8]
  • 1680 – Richelet records the watchmaking sense.[2]
  • 1736 – It names the fuse of an explosive charge.[2]
  • 1760 – Voltaire uses it figuratively for flashes of wit.[2]
  • 1845 – Bescherelle records the end of an axle.[2][7]
  • 1933 – First used of a space rocket.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (archaic) The quantity of thread wound on a spindle.[9][2]
  2. (technical) Something shaped like a spindle: the grip of a sword between guard and pommel, each end of an axle that fits into the wheel hub, the grooved cone of a watch.[9][2]
  3. (heraldry) A fusil, a narrow lozenge.[1][2]
  4. A firework rocket.[9][2]
  5. A rocket, a projectile or vehicle propelled by the reaction of gas ejected at high speed, as for space flight: fusée à étages.[9][3][1]
  6. The fuse of a shell or explosive charge.[2][3]
  7. (figurative) A sudden, brilliant burst, as of laughter.[2][3]

Usage notes

The figurative phrase démêler la fusée “to sort out a tangled affair” is old-fashioned.[2][10] A 17th-century popular sense “vomit” (1640) is derived from the verb fuser.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 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 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 c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 921a
  7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
Cite this entry

“Fusée.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/fus%C3%A9e. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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