saucisse

Forms

saucisse f (plural saucisses)^[1] Old French saucice.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French saucice, inherited from Late Latin salsīcia (“sausage”), the feminine of the adjective salsīcius (“salted”) used as a noun, from salsus (“salted”), ultimately from sāl (“salt”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The word thus meant “a salted one”.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg take the feminine from the neuter plural of the adjective.^[6] It belongs to the family of sauce and sel.^[3][7]

Cognate with Italian salsiccia and Old Occitan sausisa;^[8][6] Catalan salsitja and Spanish salchicha were borrowed from Italian.^[8][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1260 in Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers, for minced raw seasoned meat in a gut casing: que nuiz ne puisse faire saucisses de nulle char que de porc.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

By likeness of shape the word named a long roll of cloth filled with powder to fire a mine (1593) and a fascine for gun embrasures (1611), and in slang the penis (18th century).^[3] A long captive observation balloon was a saucisse in 1914.^[2][3]

As a term of abuse it meant “idiot” (adjective 1901, noun 1906 in the French of Algeria), probably from the sense “penis”, and in slang “prostitute” (1880).^[2][3] Fabricant de saucisses “German” (1884) and ne pas attacher ses chiens avec des saucisses “to be stingy” (1870) are now dated.^[3][4] Rouler une saucisse “to give a long kiss” (1931) takes the word for the tongue.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1260 – Saucisses appear in Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers.^[2]
• 1593 – It names a powder roll for firing a mine.^[3]
• 1870 – Littré records ne pas attacher ses chiens avec des saucisses.^[4]
• 1880 – Slang saucisse “prostitute” is recorded.^[3]
• 1901 – Rossignol's slang dictionary has the adjective “stupid”.^[2]
• 1914 – It names a captive balloon in the war.^[2][3]
• 1931 – Rouler une saucisse “to kiss” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sausage: minced meat, usually pork with pork fat, seasoned and stuffed in a gut casing, eaten cooked;^[7][2][1] saucisse de Toulouse, saucisse de Strasbourg, saucisse de Francfort.^[7][2][1]
2. (military, historical) An elongated captive balloon.^[2][4]
3. (familiar) A fool, used as an insult or, almost affectionately, as a form of address.^[2][3]

Related words

• saucisson
• sauce
• sel
• Latin salsus

Usage notes

Ne pas attacher ses chiens avec des saucisses “to be very careful with money” is still known though out of use.^[3][9] The childish pun moi sauciss’ “me too” plays on aussi (1900).^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 107a
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette