pisser

Forms

pisser^[1] Old French pissier.^[1][2] Anglo-Norman piscer, piser, pisier.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pissier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *pissiō (“to urinate”), an expressive or onomatopoeic formation.^[2][4][5][6] Wiktionary also mentions an originally Germanic source, but thinks an echoic origin more likely;^[1] Littré reports Diez's view that the word is not native to the Germanic languages and is probably Romance and onomatopoeic.^[7]

Cognate with Italian pisciare, Old Occitan pissar, Catalan pixar and Romanian pișa;^[5][8][6][1] Spanish pixar, found in the 17th century, has since given way to mear, from Latin meiō, as in Portuguese mijar.^[5][8][6][1] German pissen and the English verb piss were taken from French.^[5][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Marie de France's Fables (about 1180) has it intransitively, “to urinate”: sor lui pissa li goupiz (“the fox pissed on him”), of the fox and the sick lion.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

For a long time pisser was the ordinary, unmarked word: Rey and the Grand Robert note that uriner was kept for medical use, said in the 17th century almost only of the sick, and that pisser became vulgar only in the 19th century.^[5][10] In modern French it is often replaced by the childish faire pipi.^[5]

Since Old French it has expressed contempt in pisser sur quelqu'un (about 1200).^[2][5] Pisser le sang dates from the 13th century;^[2][5] j'en pisse dedens mes brayes (1508) foreshadows pisser de rire.^[2][5] From the 16th century it was extended to any liquid allowed to flow or spurt out (1552, 1556), and the liquid itself could be the subject from 1611.^[2][5] Figurative phrases from the second half of the 19th century include laisser pisser le mérinos “to let things take their course” (1866), il pleut comme vache qui pisse (1876) and pisser dans un violon “to waste one's effort” (1883).^[2]

English piss is recorded about 1300, from Old French pissier.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1180 – First record, in Marie de France's Fables.^[2]
• c. 1200 – Pisser sur quelqu'un, to show contempt.^[2]
• c. 1225 – Transitive pissa sanc “passed blood”.^[2]
• 1508 – J'en pisse dedens mes brayes, of laughing.^[2]
• 1552 – “To let a liquid flow or spurt out”.^[2]
• 1587 – Mener les poules pisser.^[2]
• 1692 – The childish pipi.^[8]
• 1866 – Laisser pisser le mérinos.^[2]
• 1876 – Il pleut comme vache qui pisse.^[2][11]
• 19th century – The word becomes vulgar.^[5][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (familiar) To urinate, to piss.^[12][2]
2. (familiar) To pass with the urine: pisser le sang.^[2][7]
3. (familiar) To let a liquid flow or spurt out; of a liquid, to flow or gush.^[2][1]
4. Il pleut comme vache qui pisse: it is pouring with rain.^[12][11]
5. C'est comme si on pissait dans un violon: it is a waste of effort.^[12][11]
6. Laisser pisser: to let things take their course.^[12][11]
7. Pisser de rire: to laugh uncontrollably.^[5][12]

Word family

• pisse
• pissenlit
• pisseur
• pipi
• pissat
• pissement
• pisseux
• pissoir
• pissoter
• pisse-froid

Related words

• English piss

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 587a
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
12. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert