Etymologically
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laisse

Etymology and origin of the French word laisse

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1178, Roman de Renart
Ultimate origin
Latin (laxō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin laxo
French laisser
French laisse

Pronunciation

Forms

laisse f (plural laisses)[1] Also written lesse from the 13th to the 16th century;[2][3] laisse in Richelet (1680).[2][3]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French laisser (“to let, leave”), in all its senses according to the FEW and Bloch and Wartburg: the leash is a slack cord that lets the animal go, and the epic stanza is a stretch of verse sung straight through, compare the Old French phrase meaning “in one go”; the foreshore and the droppings of game are “what is left”.[4][5][6] Laisser is from Latin laxō (“to loosen, slacken”).[5] Guiraud, cited by the Grand Robert, derived it rather from the Latin adjective laxus (“loose, wide”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Roman de Renart (1178) has II. levriés tint en une laisse, two greyhounds held on one leash.[4][7]

Semantic evolution

The figurative mener quelqu'un en laisse “to lead someone by the nose” is found from the 13th century (Jean de Meun) and Marot.[2][3] In the 14th century it named the droppings of game (Gaston Phébus, 1387–1391), now laissées.[4][7]

In the early 13th century it was a passage sung or recited without a break; the word was only Old French, called “old” by Trévoux (1752), and was revived by medievalists for the stanzas of the chansons de geste (1840, Littré 1867).[4][3] The strip of shore uncovered by the tide is found as a place name in 1421 in the Niort marshes, and laisses de basse mer in the Encyclopédie (1765).[4][7]

Timeline

  • 1178 – A leash, in the Roman de Renart.[4]
  • c. 1202 – Lesse, the droppings of a wild animal.[4]
  • 1220–1230 – A passage recited at a stretch.[4]
  • 1421 – Land left by the sea, in a place name.[4]
  • 1471 – A hatband.[4]
  • 1765 – Laisses de basse mer, in the Encyclopédie.[4]
  • 1867 – Littré, of the monorhyme stanza of an epic.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A leash, lead for a dog or other animal: tenir un chien en laisse.[7][8]
  2. Tenir quelqu'un en laisse: to keep someone on a tight rein.[9][3]
  3. (literary history) A laisse, a stanza of an Old French epic built on one assonance: les laisses de la Chanson de Roland.[7][9]
  4. (geography) The strip of shore uncovered by the tide, laisse de haute mer, de basse mer, the high and low water marks.[7][4]
  5. (hunting) Les laisses: the droppings of game.[7][4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 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. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Laisse.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/laisse. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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