Etymologically
Log in

massue

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word massue

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1075–1100 Rashi's glosses More words from the 11th century
Inherited from
Latin *matteuca via Old French
Ultimate origin
Vulgar Latin *matteuca

Pronunciation

Forms

massue f (plural massues)[1] Old French maçugue, maçuge, then maçüe and machue.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French maçüe, inherited from Vulgar Latin *matteūca (“club”).[2][5][6] The Vulgar Latin word is reconstructed from Istro-Romanian maciuca (“mace, club”) and is derived from *mattea, the source of masse2 “sledgehammer”, with an ending taken from Latin festūca (“rammer for driving stakes”).[2][6] Bloch and Wartburg give the forms as *mattiūca and *mattia.[7] Meyer-Lübke sets it beside *matteola “rammer”, a word recorded only in Cato.[8]

Cognate with Romanian măciucă and Occitan maçuga.[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest forms, maçugue and maçuge, are glosses in Rashi's commentaries at the end of the 11th century;[2][9][10] maçüe is in Wace's Brut about 1155, where it is a heavy club.[2][9][10]

Semantic evolution

The spelling massue is recorded about 1380.[3][9] Old French texts arm peasants with stakes and clubs, and Beaumanoir says one must not give wine to a drunkard nor a club to a madman.[4] In the 15th century massue could also name a jester's bauble.[4][10]

From 1599 the word was used of any heavy object for striking.[9] The figurative coups de massue, crushing blows of fortune, are in Étienne Pasquier before 1615,[2][6] and since about 1930 massue is used in apposition with a sense of brute force, as in argument massue (Jules Romains, 1935).[6][9] By likeness of shape it named parts of plants and animals in the natural sciences from 1823, the fruiting body of certain fungi from 1845 and the swollen end of certain organs from 1902, and it is also a club used in gymnastics.[9][6]

Timeline

  • late 11th century – Maçugue and maçuge appear in Rashi's glosses.[2][9]
  • c. 1155 – Wace writes maçüe in the Brut.[2]
  • c. 1380 – The spelling massue is recorded.[3][9]
  • 1599 – Used of any heavy object for striking.[9]
  • before 1615 – Pasquier uses coups de massue figuratively.[2]
  • 1823 – First use in the natural sciences.[9]
  • 1845 – It names the fruiting body of certain fungi.[6][9]
  • 1935 – Jules Romains writes argument massue.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A club, a stick with a thick knobbed head used as a weapon, a bludgeon.[11][2]
  2. Coup de massue: a heavy blow, and figuratively a sudden crushing event, or a price felt to be far too high.[11][6]
  3. In apposition, argument massue: an argument that leaves the other side with no answer.[11][6]
  4. (natural sciences) The fruiting body of certain fungi, or the club-shaped end of an organ such as an antenna;[11][2] en massue means club-shaped.[11][2]
  5. (sports) A club used in gymnastics and in juggling.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 513b
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Massue.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/massue. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·