tasse

Forms

tasse f (plural tasses)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Arabic طَاس (ṭās, “cup, bowl”),^[2][3][4][1] which the TLFi thinks very probably reached French through Old Occitan tassa or Italian tazza or both.^[4] Bloch and Wartburg and Rey connect the borrowing with imports of oriental pottery, in which the port of Tyre had a large part.^[3][2] The TLFi takes the Arabic word from Persian;^[4] Wiktionary makes it a shortening of طَسْت (ṭast), from Middle Persian tašt.^[1]

Cognate with Catalan tassa, Spanish taza (1272) and Portuguese taça.^[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The dates of the first record differ: an isolated 1150 with no sense, then 1180, according to Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF,^[3][7][8] while the TLFi's first example, a tasse grande in an inventory of the jewels of Louis, Duke of Anjou (1360–68), names a drinking cup.^[4] The word is rare before the 14th century.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages a tasse was a drinking cup, usually of silver or silver gilt, for wine or spirits; its modern shape and use came with porcelain in the 18th century.^[2] It has meant the contents of a cup since 1547.^[4][2]

The Nantes drownings of 1793–94 spread boire à la grande tasse “to drown”, and la grande tasse was slang for the sea by 1847.^[4] Boire la tasse, “to swallow water while swimming”, is recorded in 1913.^[4] In Parisian slang tasse meant a urinal, probably from a popular sense “chamber pot” (1925), a use now archaic.^[2] In Canada it is a measure of capacity of 8 ounces, and in African French it names various hollow vessels, often of enamelled sheet metal.^[2]

Timeline

• 1180 – First recorded, according to Bloch and Wartburg.^[3][2]
• 1360–68 – Une tasse grande in an inventory of the Duke of Anjou's jewels.^[4]
• 1547 – Noël du Fail uses it for the contents of a cup.^[4]
• 1793 – Boire à la grande tasse “to drown” is reported from the Nantes drownings.^[4]
• 1847 – La grande tasse means the sea.^[4]
• 1913 – Jules Romains has boire la tasse.^[4]
• 1925 – The popular sense “chamber pot” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small cup with a handle, for drinking hot drinks: tasse à café, tasse à thé.^[8][4]
2. A cupful: Elle a bu une tasse de chocolat.^[8][1]
3. Boire la tasse, boire une tasse: to swallow water by accident while swimming; figuratively, to suffer losses.^[8]
4. Ce n'est pas ma tasse de thé (familiar, after English): it is not to my taste.^[8]
5. (familiar, dated) La grande tasse: the sea;^[7][5] boire à la grande tasse “to drown”.^[7][5]
6. (Canada) A measure of capacity of 8 ounces.^[2]

Word family

• demi-tasse
• sous-tasse
• tassée

Related words

• Italian tazza
• Spanish taza

Usage notes

Older French had another tasse “pocket, purse”, Old French tasche, from a Germanic *taska.^[9][5] The derivative tassée “cupful” (about 1400) is now rarely used.^[2]

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert