pouce

Forms

pouce m (plural pouces)^[1] Old French polz, pouz and peuce;^[2][3][4] pouce is the form from the 13th century.^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman also has pous, poz and puz.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pouz, inherited from Latin pollicem (“thumb, big toe”), the accusative of the Latin noun.^{[6][2][7][1][8]} The Old French forms without a final ⟨e⟩ come from an early loss of the unstressed second-to-last syllable.^[6] Rey notes that the Latin word may first have been an adjective going with digitus (“finger”), and that its ⟨ll⟩ may be an expressive doubling.^[2] Littré linked it to polleō (“to be strong”), “the strong finger”.^[9]

Cognate with Italian pollice, Walloon pôss and Picard peuce.^[7][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as pouz about 1130, in the Laws of William the Conqueror, meaning the strongest finger, the thumb.^[6] The GLLF and Rey give an earlier polz at the start of the 12th century, in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The word has few extensions.^[2] By metonymy it named a measure of length, a twelfth of the foot (about 1140), still used in many countries.^[6][2] In falconry it was the hawk's first toe (late 13th century), and the big toe is le pouce du pied (1549).^[6][2]

Most of its history is in phrases.^[2] Pas un pouce de terre (before 1654) led to ne pas reculer d'un pouce (1836).^[6][2] Coucher les pouces (1790), then mettre les pouces, meant “to give in”, perhaps from the ancient thumb turned down or from the thumbscrews put on prisoners.^[6][2] Prendre un petit verre sur le pouce (1829) gave manger sur le pouce, and tourner ses pouces (1834) became se tourner les pouces (1893).^[6][2] Donner le coup de pouce first meant “to strangle” (1847), then a shopkeeper's thumb on the scale (1853), a nudge to events, and an artist's finishing touch (1874).^[2][6] Children's pouce !, asking for a pause in a game, is recorded in 1883.^[6][2] In Quebec, after English, voyager sur le pouce and faire du pouce mean “to hitchhike”.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1130 – Pouz “thumb” appears in the Laws of William the Conqueror.^[6]
• c. 1140 – Used for a measure of length.^[6]
• 13th century – The form pouce appears.^[2][3]
• Late 13th century – Peuce names the first toe of a falcon.^[6]
• 1718 – Y mettre les quatre doigts et le pouce is recorded by the Académie.^[6]
• 1790 – Coucher les pouces and mettre les pouces “to give in”.^[6]
• 1829 – Prendre un petit verre sur le pouce.^[6]
• 1847 – Donner le coup de pouce “to strangle”.^[6]
• 1883 – The children's interjection pouce !.^[6]
• 1893 – Se tourner les pouces appears in Courteline.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The thumb.^[10][1] Le bébé suce son pouce.^[10][1]
2. The big toe.^[10][6]
3. An inch: an old French measure of about 2.7 cm; in Canada, a twelfth of a foot, 2.54 cm.^[10][6]
4. Ne pas reculer, ne pas bouger d'un pouce: not to move an inch.^[10][6]
5. Mettre les pouces: to give in, to admit defeat.^[10][6]
6. (familiar) Manger sur le pouce: to have a quick bite, standing up or in a hurry.^[10][6]
7. (familiar) Se tourner les pouces: to twiddle one's thumbs, do nothing.^[10][6]
8. Coup de pouce: a slight push or help; the finishing touch.^[10][6]
9. (Quebec) Faire du pouce, voyager sur le pouce: to hitchhike.^[10][2]
10. (familiar) Et le pouce: and more besides.^[10][6]

Interjection

1. (children's games) Time out!: called with the thumb raised to stop the game for a moment.^[10][6][1]

Word family

• poucet
• poucier
• poucette
• pouceux

Related words

• Latin pollex

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ 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 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
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 131b
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert