Etymologically
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gosse

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡɔs/[1]

Forms

gosse m or f by sense (plural gosses)[1] Gousse in 1808 (d'Hautel).[2]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[2][3][4][5] The Petit Robert, the GLLF and Wiktionary suggest an alteration of slang gonze “man, fellow”, which the TLFi rejects for reasons of sound and sense.[5][6][1][2] The TLFi also rejects a link with gausser and a borrowing from Swedish gosse (“boy”), which is improbable in form and date, and notes that the form “gousse” of 1808 brings it close to gouspin “street urchin”.[2][3]

Pierre Guiraud proposed Occitan gous (“dog”) (“gousset”, “goussoun” “puppy”), on the model of chiot, which can mean both a puppy and a kid, Sainéan had compared the same words, but the TLFi finds the sense link unconvincing.[3][7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Esnault dates the word to 1796 in the sense “kid, young rascal”; the TLFi's first sure example, gosse, is from 1846 (L'Intérieur des prisons).[6][2]

Semantic evolution

A slang word at first, gosse came to mean any child, and a child in relation to its parents (1886), then a teenager; in slang la gosse was a man's mistress (1890) and le gosse a lover (1903).[6][3] It is now an ordinary familiar word, with beau gosse “good-looking boy” and gosse de riche.[3][5]

Timeline

  • 1796 – First recorded, according to Esnault.[2][6]
  • 1808 – Gousse, d'Hautel.[2]
  • 1846 – Gosse, L'Intérieur des prisons.[2]
  • 1886 – A child in relation to its parents.[6]
  • 1890 – La gosse “mistress”.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (familiar) A kid, child: un gosse d'une dizaine d'années, un sale gosse, a brat, quand j'étais gosse.[5][1]
  2. (familiar) One's child, son or daughter: avoir des gosses.[5][6]
  3. (familiar) Un beau gosse, une belle gosse: a good-looking young man or woman.[5][3]

Word family

  • gosseline

Usage notes

In Quebec French a separate word gosse (feminine), from a regional pronunciation of gousse, means “testicle”; it makes the European use of gosse for “child” impossible in Quebec.[3][1] In Louisiana gosse is a husk or a clove of garlic, a variant of gousse or cosse.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert