Etymologically
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sequin

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 18:22. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sə.kɛ̃/[1]

Forms

sequin m (plural sequins)[1] Essequin (1400), chequin, cequin (1540), sechin (1570), sequin (1532), zecchin (1611).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian zecchino, a Venetian word for a gold coin struck at Venice from 1280 or 1284, although the word is only found from 1543.[2][3][4][1][5][6] It is derived from zecca (“mint”), from Arabic سكة (sikka, “die for coining; coin”).[2][1][7][8] Rey and Bloch and Wartburg make “zecchino” come rather from an Arabic adjective “sikkī” “coin”, itself derived from “sikka”.[3][4] The Arabic word also gave Old Occitan seca (“mint”) and Spanish ceca.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Essequin names a coin in a Tournai testament of 1400;[2][9] sequins de Turquie appear in an inventory of 1532, and the Venetian gold coin by name about 1534.[2]

Semantic evolution

The sequin was the gold ducat of Venice, which became the coin of long-distance trade and was current in Italy and the Levant until 1822.[2][5][9] From the coins sewn on as ornaments (1817, Stendhal), the word came at the end of the 19th century to name a small disc of shiny metal sewn on clothing, a spangle.[2][3][9]

Timeline

  • 1280 – The Venetian gold coin is first struck.[2]
  • 1400 – Essequin.[2][3]
  • 1532 – Sequins de Turquie.[2][3]
  • 1543 – Italian zecchino is recorded.[2]
  • 1611 – Zecchin, closer to the Italian.[3]
  • 1694 – First recorded by the Académie.[2]
  • 1817 – Coins worn as ornaments (Stendhal).[2]
  • late 19th century – A spangle sewn on clothing (Daudet).[9][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (historical) The gold ducat of Venice, current in Italy and the Levant; a zecchino.[10][5]
  2. A small perforated disc sewn on fabric as an ornament; a sequin.[10][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 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 c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 158b
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert