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souci

Etymology and origin of the French word souci

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souci1 worry

Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1217–1222, Jean Renart, Guillaume de Dole
Ultimate origin
Latin (sollicito)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /su.si/[1]

Forms

souci m (plural soucis)[1] Old French soussi and sousi (13th century), then soucy (14th century) and souci (1530, Palsgrave).[2][3][4]

Etymology

The word for worry is a deverbal noun from soucier,[2][3][1] which comes from Vulgar Latin *sollicītō, an alteration of Latin sollicitō (“to stir up; to disturb, worry”), probably after the past participle of exciō (“to rouse, stir up”).[2][5] The classical verb was later borrowed as solliciter, a doublet.[6][1] The REW lists the noun under the same Latin verb.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jean Renart's Guillaume de Dole (1217–1222) has soussi “anxiety caused by danger or difficulty”.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Guillaume de Lorris's part of the Roman de la Rose (1225–1230) it is found in estre en souci and in the sense “concern for something”.[2] At the end of the 14th century it was used of the torments of love (Eustache Deschamps), and in the 16th century of the beloved herself: Rémy Belleau and Baïf address her as mon souci.[2] Robert Estienne records it in 1549 for a cause of worry.[2] The Grand Robert notes that the word fell out of favour for a time and was thought old-fashioned about 1700.[3]

Avoir souci de “to care about” is in Ronsard (mid-16th century).[4] Its familiar phrases are later: se faire du souci is in the Robert dictionary of 1964.[4]

Timeline

  • 1217–1222 – Soussi in Jean Renart.[2]
  • 1225–1230 – Estre en souci, in Guillaume de Lorris.[2]
  • Late 14th century – Lovers' anxiety, in Eustache Deschamps.[2]
  • 1530 – The spelling souci (Palsgrave).[4]
  • 1549 – A cause of worry, in Robert Estienne.[2]
  • Before 1577 – Mon souci, of a beloved (Belleau).[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Worry, anxiety: se faire du souci, to worry, être sans souci.[8][1]
  2. A cause of worry, a problem: soucis d'argent, c'est le cadet de mes soucis, that is the least of my worries, pas de souci (familiar), no problem.[1][8]
  3. Care, concern for something: avoir souci de.[4][2]

Word family

  • soucieux
  • sans-souci
  • insouciant

souci2 marigold

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
mid-13th century
Borrowed from
Latin solsequia
Ultimate origin
Late Latin (solsequia)

Forms

souci m (plural soucis)[1] Old French soussie (feminine, about 1280), sousicle (1334), solcie (about 1380), solsie (1464); masculine soucy (about 1530), soulci (1538) and souci (1600, Olivier de Serres).[6][3][2]

Etymology

The plant name is an alteration (1538), after the word for “worry”, of the Old French feminine soussie,[3][5][6] borrowed from Late Latin solsequia (“sunflower; wild chicory”) (6th–7th centuries, Isidore), literally “the one that follows the sun”, from sōl (“sun”) and sequor (“to follow”);[2][6][9] its ending was adapted to the suffix -ie common in plant names.[2] Littré explains the name by the flower heads, which seem to turn towards the sun, as in tournesol.[10] Bloch and Wartburg note that the word belonged to northern France and was taken from Latin rather than handed down in popular speech; it reached the South only recently.[5] Wiktionary treats it as inherited.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Glasgow glossary of the mid-13th century glosses Latin solsequium with sussie.[2]

Semantic evolution

The name covers the wild plant of the fields (souci des champs, 1780) and the cultivated one (souci des jardins), and by extension its flower.[6] Souci d'eau named the yellow loosestrife (1550) and the marsh marigold (1765).[6]

From the colour of the flower the word named a cloth (1313, soussie), the colour yellow (couleur de souci, 1636; as a noun, 1791) and, in Valmont de Bomare (1780), an orange butterfly.[6] Jaune comme souci (1690) was said of a sallow complexion.[6]

Timeline

  • Mid-13th century – Sussie in a Glasgow glossary.[2]
  • 1313 – A cloth of that colour.[6]
  • 1538 – The masculine soulci (Robert Estienne).[2]
  • 1550 – Souci d'eau.[6]
  • 1636 – Couleur de souci.[6]
  • 1780 – A butterfly, souci des champs.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The marigold (genus Calendula), a plant with bright yellow or orange flowers, souci des jardins, the pot marigold.[8][1]
  2. The flower of this plant.[8][6]
  3. Souci d'eau: the marsh marigold.[8][6]
  4. (entomology) An orange butterfly, the clouded yellow.[2][6]
  • soucier
  • solliciter
  • tournesol

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 73a
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Souci.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/souci. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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