Etymologically
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glisser

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 07:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡli.se/[1]

Forms

glisser[1] Old French glicier (before 1191), remade as glisser about 1380.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French glicier, a blend of Old French gliier (“to slide”), borrowed from Frankish *glīdan (“to slide, glide”), with glacier, the old form of glacer, which in the 12th century meant “to slip”.[5][2][6][3][7] The Frankish verb is related to Middle Dutch gliden, Middle High German glīten and German gleiten, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *glīdaną, the source of English glide.[5][1]

Littré took “glacier”, from glace, to be the older word.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Gui de Cambrai's Vengement Alixandre (before 1191) glicier means to move continuously over a smooth surface or along another body.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Glisser sur la glace is in Palsgrave (1530).[5] Transitively it meant to push (about 1320), then to slip something in deftly or secretly (Monet, 1636) and to whisper a word (1735).[5][2] From the 16th century it meant to move as if gliding (glisser sur l'eau), to pass lightly or insensibly (1580), and to slip gradually into a state.[2][4]

Figuratively, glisser sur a subject is not to dwell on it (Madame de Sévigné, 1671), and something glisse sur a person when it makes no impression (1680).[5][2] Skiers use it from 1896, and the noun glisse gave the sports de glisse.[9][2]

Timeline

  • Before 1191 – Glicier, Gui de Cambrai.[5]
  • c. 1320 – Transitive “to push”, Watriquet de Couvin.[5]
  • c. 1380 – The form glisser.[2][3]
  • 1530 – Glisser sur la glace, Palsgrave.[5]
  • 1636 – To slip in furtively, Monet.[5]
  • 1671 – “Not to dwell on”, Madame de Sévigné.[5]
  • 1896 – Of skiing.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To slide, glide: glisser sur la glace, le traîneau glissait sur la neige.[1][5]
  2. To slip, skid: il a glissé sur une peau de banane; to be slippery: attention, ça glisse.[10][1]
  3. To pass lightly or gradually: glisser dans le sommeil, glisser sur un sujet, not to dwell on it.[2][5]
  4. To slip (something) in, insert discreetly: glisser une lettre sous la porte; to whisper: glisser un mot à l'oreille.[5][2]
  5. Se glisser: to slip, creep in: se glisser dans la foule.[8][5]

Word family

  • glissade
  • glissant
  • glissement
  • glisseur
  • glissière
  • glissoire
  • glisse
  • glacer
  • glace
  • English glide

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 44b
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert