poussin

Forms

poussin m (plural poussins)^[1] Old French pulcin, pocins and poucin; the spelling poussin is found from about 1265.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pulcin, inherited from Late Latin pullicinus (“chick”),^[2][4] an altered form, with a change of suffix, of pullicēnus (“young chicken”), from Latin pullus (“young animal”).^[2][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF treat this form as an unattested popular Latin one,^[5][6][3] while the TLFi notes that it is recorded before 885.^[2][7]

Cognate with Italian pulcino and Occitan polzin.^[8][5][9] It belongs with poule, poulet and poulain.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As pulcin it first appears in the Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century) for the young of any bird;^[2][9] Littré quotes the turtledove laying its pulcins in its nest.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the young of any bird, such as the crow, a sense still found at the end of the 14th century in Eustache Deschamps.^[2][4] By a narrowing already known in Latin it came to name, first mostly and then only, a newly hatched chicken (about 1195), and in cooking a young chicken killed before three months.^[4]

Like poule, poulet and poulette, it became a term of affection for a small child (Madame de Sévigné, 1680).^[4][2] In the 20th century it entered sport for young beginners (1936) and military slang for first-year cadets of the École de l'air (1939).^[2][4][3] The derivative poussinière was first an adjective, as in geline pociniere “brooding hen” (about 1195) and estoile pouciniere “the Pleiades” (1372), and now names a chick cage or an incubator.^[4][5]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Pulcin “young of a bird” appears in the Cambridge Psalter.^[2][4]
• c. 1195 – Ambroise uses pocins for newly hatched chickens.^[2]
• c. 1265 – The spelling poussin appears, in Jean de Meun.^[3][4]
• late 14th century – Eustache Deschamps uses it for the young of the crow.^[2]
• 1680 – Madame de Sévigné uses it affectionately of a small child.^[2][4]
• 1936 – First recorded in sport, in L'Auto.^[2]
• 1939 – Esnault records it for a first-year cadet of the École de l'air.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chick, a newly hatched chicken still covered in down; by extension, any newly hatched bird.^[10][2]
2. (cooking) A young chicken eaten before it is three months old: un poussin grillé.^[4][10]
3. (familiar) A term of endearment, especially for a child: mon poussin.^[10][1]
4. (sport) A young player in the age group below the benjamins, under about eleven.^[10][4]
5. (military slang) A first-year cadet at the École de l'air.^[3][2]

Word family

• poussinière

Related words

• poule
• poulet
• poulain
• poussinet
• Latin pullus

Usage notes

Jaune poussin is a pale, bright yellow, and une poule n'y retrouverait pas ses poussins is said of a place in great disorder.^[10] The diminutive poussinet (13th century) is also a pet name for a child.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 526b
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert