Etymologically
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pousser

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pu.se/[1]

Forms

pousser[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pulsō (“to push, strike repeatedly, beat”), a frequentative formed on “pulsum”, the supine of pellō (“to set in motion, drive”).[2][3][4][5][1] “Pellō” rests on a stem “*pel-” also behind Ancient Greek πάλλω (pállō, “to shake”).[3] The same Latin family gave expulser and impulsion.[1]

Compare Occitan polsar, Spanish pujar and Portuguese puxar.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its oldest uses are intransitive: in the 12th century it meant “to pant, gasp”, of a horse, and later of a person (1306), a sense continued by pousse (a disease of horses) and poussif.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

“To press, push” is recorded about 1175, and the transitive “to move by pushing” at the end of the 14th century (Froissart); for a long time pousser competed with Old French bouter, which it ousted only slowly.[3][2] “To make someone go forward” and pousser quelqu'un à “to urge” are in Robert Estienne (1538); pousser du coude dates from 1611 and pousser à bout from Corneille (1651).[2] Va comme je te pousse is Marivaux's (1723).[2]

Of plants, “to grow” is recorded in 1660 (in 1580, transitively, “to put forth”), and of children growing up before 1834.[3][2] Pousser un soupir “to heave a sigh” dates from 1568, pousser la chansonnette from the 19th century, and the familiar faut pas pousser “don't overdo it” from 1962.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 12th century – “To pant”, of a horse.[4][3]
  • c. 1175 – “To press”.[3]
  • Late 14th century – “To push (something)”, in Froissart.[2]
  • 1538 – Pousser quelqu'un à.[2]
  • 1568 – Pousser un soupir.[2]
  • 1660 – “To grow”, of a plant.[3]
  • 1723 – Va comme je te pousse, in Marivaux.[2]
  • 1962 – Faut pas pousser.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To push: pousser une porte, pousser un chariot.[1][2]
  2. To urge, drive on: pousser quelqu'un à partir.[1][2]
  3. To take further, carry on: pousser ses recherches, pousser jusqu'à.[2][3]
  4. To utter: pousser un cri, pousser un soupir.[1][2]
  5. (intransitive) To grow: les cheveux poussent.[1][3]
  6. (familiar) To go too far: faut pas pousser.[3]
  7. Se pousser: to move aside.[1]

Word family

  • poussée
  • poussette
  • pousse
  • poussif
  • repousser
  • pousse-café

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 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 f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 552a
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter