Etymologically
Log in

pêche

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word pêche

pêche1 peach

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1180 Vie de saint Gilles
Inherited from
Latin persica via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin persicus
Etymology tree of pêche1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin Persicus
Latin persica
French pêche
Romanian piersică
Derivations · pêche1
From the same root · pêche1
Latin persicum ← Persicus

Pronunciation

Forms

pêche f (plural pêches)[1] Old French persches (doubtful reading, late 11th century), peske (about 1170) and pesche (about 1180); peche in 1600 and pêche from 1671.[2][3]

Etymology

The word for the peach is inherited from Old French pesche, inherited from Late Latin persica (“peach”), also recorded as pessica in the 4th–5th centuries; it is the neuter plural of persicum, taken as a feminine singular.[3][4][5][6] This is short for mālum persicum (“Persian fruit”), the fruit being named after the land it came from; the tree was persica arbor (“Persian tree”).[3][5][2] Wiktionary sets a Vulgar Latin *pessica between the two and calls the word a doublet of persique.[1] The English word peach comes from the French one.[6]

Cognate with Italian persica, Old Occitan persega, Catalan presseg, Portuguese pessego and Walloon pih.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rashi's glosses (late 11th century) may have it as persches, but the reading is doubtful; the first sure record is pesches in the Vie de saint Gilles (about 1180), for the fruit of the peach tree.[3][5] The Floire et Blancheflor has Peskes, castaignes à plenté “peaches, chestnuts in plenty”.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The word names the fruit in French as in Latin.[5] The dessert pêche Melba (1903) was created about 1893 in London by the cook G. A. Escoffier in honour of the Australian singer Nellie Melba.[3][5] From 1803 the word is used for a pale pink (rose pêche), and alone as a colour name from 1909.[3][5] The velvety skin of the fruit gave comparisons from 1849 and teint de pêche (1884).[3][5]

Like many names of round fruits it came to mean “head” in slang (1878), whence se fendre la pêche “to laugh” (1938).[3][5] It also meant excrement (1866) and a punch or slap (about 1900).[3][5] Avoir la pêche “to be in great form” (1960) has no clear explanation, and gave the adjective pêchu.[5][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1180 – Pesches in the Vie de saint Gilles.[3]
  • 1600 – Olivier de Serres writes peche.[2]
  • 1671 – The spelling pêche in Pomey.[2]
  • 1803 – First used for a pale pink colour.[3][5]
  • 1866 – Slang use for excrement.[3]
  • 1878 – Slang use for the head.[3][5]
  • 1900 – Slang use for a punch.[3]
  • 1903 – Pêche Melba is recorded.[3][5]
  • 1938 – Céline uses se fendre la pêche.[3]
  • 1960 – Avoir la pêche is recorded.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A peach, the fruit of the peach tree, with downy skin and a hard stone.[8][2][1]
  2. Peau de pêche, teint de pêche: soft, rosy skin or complexion.[8][2]
  3. (familiar) A punch, a slap.[8][3]
  4. (familiar) The face or head;[8][3] se fendre la pêche, to laugh.[8][3]
  5. (familiar) Avoir la pêche: to be in great form, full of energy.[8][1]

Adjective

  1. (invariable) Peach-coloured, pale pink with a touch of gold.[9][8]

Word family

pêche2 fishing

Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1261 letter of Guillaume d'Ardenne
Ultimate origin
Latin piscis
Etymology tree of pêche2
inherited borrowed derived
French pêcher
French pêche

Pronunciation

Forms

pêche f (plural pêches)[1] Old French pesche, peeche.[3]

Etymology

The word for fishing is a deverbal noun from French pêcher (“to fish”).[3][10][8][6][1] The verb comes from Old French peschier, from Vulgar Latin *piscō, Classical piscor (“to fish”), derived from piscis (“fish”).[5][6] Compare Medieval Latin pisca (“fishing, fishing right”), found from the late 11th century.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as pesche in 1261, in a letter of Guillaume d'Ardenne, meaning “the right to fish”.[3][10][5]

Semantic evolution

The word soon named the place where one fishes (1317), the act of fishing (1347–48) and the catch (1475).[3][5] From the act, it came to mean the activity itself, either sea fishing, a trade often carried on in groups, or freshwater fishing, mostly a pastime or sport; kinds of fishing are named by a complement or an adjective, as pêche à la ligne (1539), pêche maritime (1769), pêche fluviale (1827) and pêche sous-marine (1953).[5][3]

Like the verb, it is used for gathering pearls or coral (1679) and, by extension, for any search (1837), especially in aller à la pêche, which in 1895 slang meant “to have lost one's job and be looking for another”.[3][5] Pêche miraculeuse dates from 1825.[3] The compound surpêche, first recorded in Quebec in 1985, renders English overfishing.[5]

Timeline

  • 1261 – Pesche “right to fish” in a letter of Guillaume d'Ardenne.[3]
  • 1317 – Peeche “fishing ground”.[3]
  • 1347–48 – Used for the act of fishing.[3][5]
  • 1475 – Used for the catch.[3][5]
  • 1539 – Estienne records pesche a la ligne.[3]
  • 1679 – Used for gathering pearls or coral.[3]
  • 1769 – Pêche maritime in Duhamel du Monceau.[3]
  • 1825 – Pêche miraculeuse is recorded.[3]
  • 1895 – Slang aller à la pêche “to look for a new job”.[3][5]
  • 1953 – Pêche sous-marine is recorded.[3][5]
  • 1985 – Surpêche appears in Quebec.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. fishing, the act or way of catching fish;[8][9] pêche à la ligne, angling.[8][9]
  2. The catch, the fish caught.[9][3]
  3. A fishing ground, a place where one has the right to fish.[9][3]
  4. The gathering of pearls, coral and the like.[3]
  5. (familiar) A search: aller à la pêche, to look for something at random.[9][3]
  6. Pêche miraculeuse: the miraculous draught of fishes in the Gospel; also a fairground game.[8][9]

Word family

  • surpêche

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ 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 z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 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
  4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 266a
  5. ^ 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pêche.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/p%C3%AAche. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·