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gourde

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Etymology and origin of the French word gourde

gourde1 gourd; flask

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1200s Livre des simples médecines
Inherited from
Latin cucurbita via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin cucurbita
Etymology tree of gourde1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cucurbita
French gourde
Romanian curcubetă
From the same root · gourde1
Latin cucutia ← cucurbita

Pronunciation

  • /ɡuʁd/[1]
  • Louisiana: [ɡuɾd][1]

Forms

gourde f (plural gourdes)[1] Old French gorde (13th century); gourde from 1377.[2][3] Middle French caourde (about 1520).[4]

Etymology

The word for the gourd is inherited from Old French coorde, with its initial /k/ later voiced to /ɡ/, inherited from Latin cucurbita (“gourd”).[4][1][5] Rey thinks the change was probably due to Old Occitan cogorda, of the same origin;[2] Hatzfeld put it down either to Provençal cougourdo or to the adjective gourd.[6] The form with a change of suffix, courge, is its doublet.[4][1]

Cognate with Romanian cucurbetă.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as gorde in the 13th century in the Livre des simples médecines, meaning a gourd, the fruit.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy the word named the gourd dried and hollowed out to hold drink (about 1520, caourde pleine de vin).[4][2] From 1828 it has also named any portable bottle for drink.[4][2]

The figurative sense “silly, clumsy person” appears in 1886 in Courteline, under the influence of the adjective gourd “numb, awkward”;[4][2] that influence is already seen in âme gourde (1691), where gourde means “heavy, clumsy”.[4] It was used as an adjective soon after (il est gourde, 1895),[2] and the BHVF quotes the adjective from Willy in 1901.[8] The slang derivatives gourdasse and gourdiflot keep this last sense.[2]

Timeline

  • 13th century – Gorde “gourd” is recorded.[4][3]
  • 1377 – The form gourde replaces gorde.[2][3]
  • c. 1520 – It names a dried gourd used as a wine container.[4][2]
  • 1691 – Âme gourde shows the influence of the adjective.[4]
  • 1828 – Hugo uses it for a portable bottle.[4]
  • 1886 – Courteline uses it for a silly person.[4][2]
  • 1895 – It is used as an adjective.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A gourd, the bottle gourd or calabash.[9][4]
  2. A dried, hollowed gourd used as a container for drink.[9][4]
  3. A flask or water bottle, a canteen: il a rempli sa gourde à la source.[9][1]
  4. (familiar) A dolt, a clumsy, silly person, more often said of a woman.[9][2][1]

Adjective

  1. (familiar) Stupid, clumsy.[9][8]

gourde2 currency of Haiti

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1827 Chateaubriand
Ultimate origin
Latin gurdus
Etymology tree of gourde2
inherited borrowed derived
Spanish gordo
French gourde

Pronunciation

  • /ɡuʁd/[1]
  • Louisiana: [ɡuɾd][1]

Forms

gourde f (plural gourdes)[1]

Etymology

The word for the currency is from French piastre gourde (1721, in the Trévoux dictionary) with its noun dropped,[4][3] in which the adjective is from Spanish gordo (“fat, big”), often applied to large coins,[4][3][10] from Latin gurdus (“dull, heavy”).[4][3] Wiktionary adds that the adjective gourd influenced it.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1827 in Chateaubriand's Voyage en Amérique, where beaver skins are sold on the Mississippi at five gourdes a pound.[4]

Timeline

  • 1721 – Piastre gourde is recorded in the Trévoux dictionary.[4][3]
  • 1827 – Chateaubriand uses gourde alone.[4][11]
  • 1835 – The Académie defines it as a silver coin more usually called a piastre.[4][3]
  • 20th century – It names the currency of Haiti.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (historical) A silver coin, the piastre or Spanish dollar.[11][4]
  2. The gourde, the monetary unit of Haiti.[11][4][1]
  3. (Louisiana) A dollar coin.[1]

Usage notes

Older dictionaries have a third, minor gourde: a blow that numbs, or the bump it raises (1784, Beaumarchais), which the GLLF takes to be the same word as the gourd, the bump being likened to one.[3][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y 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
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1459a
  6. ^ Hatzfeld, Adolphe; Darmesteter, Arsène; Thomas, Antoine (1890–1900), Dictionnaire général de la langue française du commencement du XVIIe siècle jusqu'à nos jours, Paris: Delagrave
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  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. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  11. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Gourde.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/gourde. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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