Etymologically
Log in

goujon

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word goujon

goujon1 pin, dowel

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1180–1190 Alexandre de Paris, Roman d'Alexandre
Ultimate origin
Late Latin gubia

Pronunciation

  • /ɡu.ʒɔ̃/[1]

Forms

goujon m (plural goujons)[1]

Etymology

The word for the pin is formed from French gouge + -on, from the name of the carpenter's gouge, the curved chisel.[2][3][4][5][1] The tool's name is from Late Latin gubia (also gulbia), probably of Celtic origin.[2][6]

Littré thought it possible that the pin was named after the fish by comparison, but found this doubtful because of a form goignon that seemed to come from gond.[7] Etymonline likewise suggests that the English gudgeon “pivot”, taken from Old French gojon “pin, peg”, may be an altered sense of the fish's name.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Goujons de fer “iron pins” appear in Alexandre de Paris's Roman d'Alexandre (1180–1190), meaning a metal peg.[2] The Grand Robert, the GLLF and Rey date the word to about 1170, the GLLF in Fierabras.[4][9][3]

Semantic evolution

From a metal peg the word spread to other pins and spindles: the axle of a pulley (1567), a small sculptor's gouge (1690) and, in the 20th century, a part of a printing telegraph (1924).[3][2] The GLLF records the sense of a rod threaded at both ends, holding two parts of a machine together, in 1845.[9] The verb goujonner “to join with pins” is found as goujonnier in 1364.[2][3]

English took the word from Old French as gudgeon “pivot on the end of a beam” about 1400.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1170 – Earliest date the Grand Robert and the GLLF give for the word.[4][9]
  • 1180–1190 – Goujons de fer in the Roman d'Alexandre.[2]
  • 1364 – The verb goujonnier “to fasten with pins” is recorded.[2]
  • c. 1400 – English borrows the Old French word as gudgeon “pivot”.[8]
  • 1567 – Jean Martin's translation of Vitruvius uses it for the axle of a pulley.[2]
  • 1690 – Used for a small sculptor's gouge.[3]
  • 1924 – A part of the Hughes printing telegraph is called goujon.[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (technical) A peg or dowel of wood or metal used to join two pieces of carpentry or masonry.[2][5]
  2. (technical) A metal rod threaded at both ends, usually taking a nut, used to fasten parts together; a stud.[4][9]
  3. The pin joining the two leaves of a hinge.[2][5]
  4. (architecture) A heavy iron pin joining the shaft of a column to its base or capital.[2]
  5. The axle of a pulley.[5][3]
  6. A small sculptor's gouge.[5][3]

Word family

  • goujonner

goujon2 gudgeon (fish)

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1200s Alexander Neckam, De nominibus utensilium
Inherited from
Latin gobio via Old French
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek κωβιός

Pronunciation

  • /ɡu.ʒɔ̃/[1]

Forms

goujon m (plural goujons)[1]

Etymology

The word for the fish is inherited from Old French gojon, inherited from Latin gōbiō (“gudgeon”) (through its accusative), the imperial Latin form of classical gōbius or cōbius.[2][3][1] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek κωβιός (kōbiós), the name of small sea and freshwater fish.[2][3][4] The Old French form was gujon, remade with ⟨ou⟩ about 1398.[3] Regional variants include gouvion and goiffon.[3]

Cognate with Walloon govion[7] and Portuguese gobião.[10] The southern Italian forms keep the /k/ of the Greek word.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as gujon at the beginning of the 13th century, in a gloss to Alexander Neckam's De nominibus utensilium, naming the small freshwater fish.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The fish, with the roach, became a symbol of river angling, and gave the angling terms goujonnier and goujonnière (both 1845) and the cooking term goujonnette (1933), a strip of fish fillet cut to the size of a gudgeon.[3][2] Goujon de mer names the goby.[3][7]

Since the fish bites easily, avaler le goujon “to swallow the gudgeon” meant to be taken in by a tall story; the phrase is found at the end of the 16th century in Agrippa d'Aubigné, first in the sense “to make the best of bad luck”, and the Académie recorded the later sense in 1740.[9][7] English gudgeon “small freshwater fish”, from Old French, dates from the early 15th century, and its own figurative sense “credulous person” from the 1580s.[8]

Timeline

  • early 13th century – Gujon in a gloss to Neckam's De nominibus utensilium.[2]
  • c. 1398 – The form goujon appears, in the Ménagier de Paris.[3][9]
  • early 15th century – English borrows the word as gudgeon.[8]
  • late 16th century – Agrippa d'Aubigné uses avaler le goujon.[9][7]
  • 1740 – The Académie records avaler le goujon “to believe a tall story”.[9]
  • 1845 – Goujonnier and goujonnière appear as angling terms.[3]
  • 1933 – Goujonnette is recorded in cooking.[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The gudgeon, a small edible freshwater fish of the carp family, common in sandy rivers.[2][5][9]
  2. Taquiner le goujon: to go fishing with a rod and line.[2][5]
  3. (dated, familiar) Avaler le goujon: to fall for a tall story;[9][7][2] faire avaler le goujon à quelqu'un, to take someone in.[9][7][2]
  4. Goujon de mer: the goby.[7][3]

Word family

  • goujonnette
  • gouge
  • gobie
  • Latin gobio
  • English gudgeon

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 j k l m n o p q r s t u v 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 o p q r s Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Goujon.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/goujon. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·