Etymologically
Log in

savon

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 17:46. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sa.vɔ̃/[1]

Forms

savon m (plural savons)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French savon, inherited from Latin sāpō (“soap”) (accusative “sāpōnem”),[2][3][4][5][1] which Pliny describes as a mixture of tallow and ashes invented by the Gauls to redden their hair.[2][4][6] The Latin word was taken from Germanic, Proto-Germanic *saipǭ,[3][4][1][7] the Germanic tribes having known it in solid and liquid forms;[4] compare English soap and German Seife.[4][1]

Cognate with Italian sapone, Portuguese sabão and Romanian săpun.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alexandre de Paris's Roman d'Alexandre (about 1180) has savon for the cleaning product made by combining a fatty acid with an alkali.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Kinds of soap followed: savon mol (13th century), now savon noir (1530), savon blanc (1530), savon de Marseille (1723) and savon de toilette (1835).[3][6][2] A moulded bar of soap is a savon from 1823.[2]

From the verb savonner came a second savon, a scolding: laver la tête à quelqu'un sans savon (1597), avoir le savon (1757).[2] Derivatives include savonnier (1292), savonnerie (1313), savonnette (1579) and savonneux.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1180 – Savon (Roman d'Alexandre).[2][6]
  • 1292 – Savonnier.[4]
  • 1530 – Savon noir, savon blanc.[3][2]
  • 1597 – Laver la tête sans savon “to scold”.[2]
  • 1723 – Savon de Marseille.[3][6]
  • 1757 – Avoir le savon.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Soap: savon de Marseille, savon liquide.[8][1]
  2. A bar of soap.[2][8]
  3. (familiar) A dressing-down, a telling-off: avoir un savon.[2]
  4. (chemistry) A salt of a fatty acid.[2][8]

Word family

  • savonner
  • savonnette
  • savonneux
  • savonnier

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e 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. 17, 3b
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert