Etymologically
Log in

putain

Etymology and origin of the French word putain

History Permalink
Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1121–1134, Philippe de Thaon
Ultimate origin
Latin (pūtidus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /py.tɛ̃/[1]

Forms

putain f (plural putains)[1]

Etymology

It is from French pute + -ain: the Old French oblique case of “pute”, formed like nonnain beside “nonne”.[2][3][4][5] “Pute” was the feminine of the Old French adjective put (“stinking; foul, vile, wicked”), common until the 15th century, inherited from Latin pūtidus (“rotten, stinking”), from pūteō (“to rot, stink”), the source of puer.[3][4][6][7] In the dialects of eastern France “put” still means “ugly”.[3][4] Old Occitan had “put” “bad, debauched” and the feminines “puta” and “putana”, the source of Italian puttana and Spanish puta.[3][4]

Wiktionary and Meyer-Lübke instead connect it with a Vulgar Latin *pūtta (“girl”), seen in Old Italian putta (“girl”), from Latin pūtus (“boy, child”), Etymonline weighs both explanations.[1][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134) uses it for a woman of loose life.[2][10] A 12th-century life of Thomas Becket has E guarçuns e putains unt saint Thomas hué (“and knaves and whores jeered at Saint Thomas”).[11]

Semantic evolution

Dame putain is an insult to a debauched woman in 1278, and filz a putain is found in 1155.[2][3] About the 16th century the word became coarse and insulting: Furetière noted in 1690 that there had been a time when it was not odious, but that it was now used only by common people for a gross insult.[3]

Flaubert (1853) uses it as an adjective for someone who tries to please everybody.[2][3] Putain de before a noun, expressing contempt or exasperation, is found in the Goncourts in 1863 according to the TLFi, in Giono in 1929 according to Rey, and the interjection putain ! in Mac Orlan in 1931.[2][3] The exclamation is especially frequent in the French of the Midi, as putain con !.[3] English poontang (about 1910) may come from it through New Orleans Creole.[9]

Timeline

  • 1121–1134 – In Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire.[2]
  • 1155 – Filz a putain.[3]
  • 1278 – Dame putain, an insult.[2]
  • c. 1584 – The derivative putanisme.[2]
  • 1690 – Furetière notes that the word has become coarse.[3]
  • 1853 – Adjective, “eager to please everyone”, in Flaubert.[2]
  • 1931 – The interjection, in Mac Orlan.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (vulgar) A prostitute, a whore.[12][13]
  2. (vulgar, insulting) A promiscuous woman, fils de putain, an insult.[12][13]
  3. (familiar) A person who tries to please everybody: faire la putain.[12][3]
  4. (vulgar) Putain de + noun: damned, bloody: ce putain de bus est en retard.[13][12]

Interjection

  1. (vulgar) Expressing surprise, anger or admiration: putain !.[13][12]

Adjective

  1. (familiar, dated) Eager to please everyone: très putain.[13][2]

Word family

  • putanisme
  • pute
  • puer
  • Latin pūtidus
  • English poontang

Usage notes

In print it is sometimes written p… to soften it.[5]

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 635a
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  12. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  13. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Putain.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/putain. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·