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peser

Etymology and origin of the French word peser

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis
Inherited from
Latin penso via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (pendō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin penso
French peser
French penser
Latin compenso
English recompense

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pə.ze/[1]

Forms

peser[1] Old French also peiser, poiser, with the stressed forms poise, peist.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French peser, inherited from Latin pēnsō (“to weigh; to judge”), through the popular form without /n/, an intensive of pendō (“to weigh; to hang”).[5][4][2][6][7] The same Latin verb, with a late development of meaning, gave penser and panser.[4][8][1] The noun poids keeps the vowel of the old stressed forms of the verb, ⟨poise⟩, later ⟨pèse⟩.[4]

The sense “to be painful to someone”, not found in written Latin, must have existed in the spoken language, since it is also seen in Spanish pesar (12th century) and Italian pesare.[5][4][6] Cognate with Occitan pesar, Catalan pesar and Portuguese pesar.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first sense, in the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050), is figurative and impersonal: ce poise moi, “it grieves me”; the Chanson de Roland has cui qu'en peist, “whoever may be sorry for it”.[5][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense “to have a certain weight” is found about 1170, and transitive “to measure the weight of” in 1188.[5][4] The figurative “to weigh up, examine carefully” follows in 1197, and “to press with one's weight” about 1200.[5][4] Peser sur “to oppress (body or mind)” is from 1342, and “to have influence on” from 1689 (Madame de Sévigné).[5][4] Estienne records peser ses paroles in 1538, and tout bien pesé appears in 1599.[5][4]

The old sense “to grieve” has died out.[3] In Switzerland and Quebec peser sur simply means “to press” (peser sur le bouton).[4] Under the influence of English to weigh, it is also used of a company's worth.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Ce poise moi “it grieves me”, in the Vie de saint Alexis.[5]
  • c. 1170 – “To have a certain weight”.[5]
  • 1188 – “To weigh (something)”, in Aimon de Varennes.[5]
  • 1197 – “To weigh up, consider”, in Hélinand.[5]
  • 1342 – Peser sur “to weigh on (the mind)”.[5]
  • 1538 – Peser ses paroles.[5][4]
  • 1599 – Tout bien pesé.[4]
  • 1689 – “To have influence”, in Madame de Sévigné.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To weigh, to measure the weight of: peser un objet avec une balance.[8][10]
  2. (transitive) To weigh up, consider carefully: peser le pour et le contre, peser ses mots.[8][10]
  3. (intransitive) To have a certain weight, ne pas peser lourd, to count for little.[8][1]
  4. Peser sur: to press on; to weigh on, burden; to influence.[8][11]
  5. (Quebec, Switzerland) Peser sur: to press (a button).[4]
  6. (computing) Of a file, to have a given size.[1]

Word family

  • pesage
  • pesant
  • pesée
  • peseur
  • peson
  • soupeser

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 189b
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Peser.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/peser. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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