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poule

Etymology and origin of the French word poule

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
13th century, Roman de Renart
Inherited from
Latin pulla via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (pullus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French poule
English pool

Pronunciation

Forms

poule f (plural poules)[1] Poulle (about 1340); Old French also had a masculine poul “cock”.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French poule, inherited from Latin pulla (“young hen”), the feminine of pullus (“young of an animal; chicken”), the source of poulain.[5][6][3][1][7] Latin “pullus” was used early for a young cock and gave Old French poul, which was ousted by coq and by the derivative poulet.[5][6][4] In the sense “young hen” “poule” in turn ousted Old French geline, from Latin gallīna, which survives in dialects and in Italian gallina and Spanish gallina.[6][5][3]

The Latin word goes back to an Indo-European root for the young of an animal, seen also in Ancient Greek πῶλος (pôlos, “foal”) and German Fohlen.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a 13th-century manuscript of the Roman de Renart it is the female of the domestic cock;[2][3] the Bruges Livre des métiers (about 1340) has une poulle et deus pouchins.[2]

Semantic evolution

The hen gave French a rich phraseology: se coucher avec les poules “to go to bed very early” (1813), poule mouillée “coward” (1648, Scarron), chair de poule “gooseflesh” (1762), tuer la poule aux œufs d'or (1767, after La Fontaine's fable), quand les poules auront des dents “never”.[2][5][1] Faire le cul de poule was first a gesture of the fingers (1611), then a pout (1660).[2][5]

By extension it names other birds, as poule d'eau “moorhen” (1530) and poule de Guinée (1555), later called pintade, and the females of other gallinaceous birds, as poule d'Inde (1542) and poule faisane.[2][5] Used of women, it is a term of endearment (ma poule) and, in slang, a kept woman or a girlfriend.[4][1]

Timeline

  • 13th century – The hen (Roman de Renart).[2][3]
  • 1530 – Poule d'eau.[2][5]
  • 1542 – Poule d'Inde (Rabelais).[2]
  • 1611 – Cul de poule.[2][5]
  • 1648 – Poule mouillée (Scarron).[2][5]
  • 1762 – Chair de poule (Académie).[2][5]
  • 1767 – Tuer la poule aux œufs d'or.[2][5]
  • 1813 – Se coucher avec les poules.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A hen, the female of the domestic fowl: poule pondeuse, poule au pot.[4][1]
  2. The female of some other birds: poule faisane[2][4]; poule d'eau, a moorhen.[2][4]
  3. (familiar) A term of endearment: ma poule.[4][1]
  4. (slang) A woman, a girlfriend[4][1]; (dated) a kept woman.[4][1]
  5. Poule mouillée: a coward.[4][5]

Word family

  • poulailler
  • poularde
  • poulet

Usage notes

A second poule (from 1665) is the stake or pool in cards and then billiards; its development is obscure, perhaps from the bird, and English pool seems to come from it.[6][4][8] Through English it came back as the name of a group of teams in a tournament (phase de poules) and of races such as poule d'essai (1856).[4][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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 d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 536a
  8. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Poule.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/poule. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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