Etymologically
Log in

sueur

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 03:55. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

sueur f (plural sueurs)[1] Old French sudor (about 980), suor (about 1155) and sueur (about 1260 or 1307).[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman had suour and sour.[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French suor, inherited from Latin sūdor (“sweat; moisture; toil, hardship”), in its accusative sūdōrem, derived from sūdō (“to sweat”).[6][2][7][8] Wiktionary traces the Latin word to Proto-Indo-European *sweyd-.[1] Littré compares Old English swāt and Old High German sweiz.[9]

Cognate with Italian sudore, Romanian sudoare, Catalan suor, Spanish sudor and Portuguese suor.[10][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears as sudor in the Passion of Clermont (late 10th century), for the watery fluid that comes out through the pores of the skin.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

As in Latin, the word is both the fluid and, figuratively, the symbol of toil: estre au travail e au süor (1210–1230).[6][2] En sueur “sweating” goes back to Wace (about 1155),[11][2] and froide suour (13th century) became sueur froide (1549), the cold sweat of fear or illness.[2][11] Sueur de sang is found from 1648 or 1658.[6][2]

Of moisture exuded by things it is recorded in 1309.[6] The phrases of hard labour changed over time: à la sueur de son visage (early 14th century), de son corps (early 15th century) and à la sueur de son front (1762).[2][6]

Timeline

  • c. 980 – Sudor in the Passion of Clermont.[6]
  • c. 1155 – Wace writes suor and en suor.[6][11]
  • 1210–1230 – Used as a symbol of toil.[6]
  • c. 1260 – Robert de Blois writes of a cold sweat.[6]
  • c. 1307 – The form sueur in Guillaume Guiart.[11]
  • 1309 – Of moisture from a thing.[6]
  • 1549 – Robert Estienne records sueur froide.[11]
  • 1762 – The Académie records manger son pain à la sueur de son front.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. sweat, perspiration: être en sueur, ruisseler de sueur.[4][1]
  2. Sueur froide: a cold sweat caused by fear or illness, donner des sueurs froides, to frighten.[4][2]
  3. Moisture that seeps from a thing.[6][11]
  4. (figurative) Hard work, toil: à la sueur de son front.[4][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 398a
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse