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pus

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Etymology and origin of the French word pus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1520 Jehan Falcon's glosses on the Guidon en françois More words from the 16th century
Borrowed from
Latin pus
Ultimate origin
Latin pūs
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pūs
English pus
French pus
From the same root
Latin suppūrō ← pūs

Pronunciation

Forms

pus m (invariable)[1] Early form puls (1520).[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin pūs (“pus, humour”), a Renaissance borrowing.[2][3][4][5][6] In Latin the word was also used as a term of abuse.[3]

The Latin word is an s-stem, matching Ancient Greek πύος (púos, “pus”), used by Hippocrates beside πῦον (pûon).[3][7] Rey compares πύθω (púthō, “to make rot”), Lithuanian pūliai (“pus”) and Old High German fūl (“rotten”).[3][7] Picoche places it in the family of the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *pu- (“to rot”), which also gave Latin puteō (“to stink”) and so French puer.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1520 as puls, in Jehan Falcon's glosses on the French Guidon (after Chauliac): humours “full of … puls and fat”.[2][9] The spelling pus appears in 1538, in the edition revised by Jehan Canappe.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its medical sense: a thick or liquid fluid produced by inflammation, now known to contain leucocytes and micro-organisms.[3][10] Older medicine spoke of pus louable, pus of good quality.[7] Littré also records a figurative use.[7]

The Latin derivatives came in at the same time: purulent was borrowed in 1542 and purulence in 1555.[3][5]

Timeline

  • 1520 – Puls in Jehan Falcon's glosses on the Guidon.[2][3]
  • 1538 – The spelling pus, in Jehan Canappe's revised edition.[2]
  • 1542 – purulent is borrowed from Latin purulentus.[3][5]
  • 1555 – Purulence is recorded.[5]
  • 1606 – The first date Bloch and Wartburg give for pus.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (medicine) pus: a yellowish, more or less thick fluid formed where tissue is inflamed or infected, made up of white blood cells, cell debris and microbes: la plaie laisse couler du pus.[2][10][9]

Usage notes

The final s is silent;[7][10] Littré notes that it was sounded in liaison, as in un pus épais.[7][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 620b
  7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
  9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pus.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/pus. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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