tousser

Forms

tousser^[1] Old French toussir, also tossir (1176–1181); tousser is certain from 1444.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French toussir with a change of conjugation, inherited from Latin tussiō (“to cough”), a derivative of tussis (“cough”), the source of toux.^[2][3][1][4] The old verb is still found in Scarron (1649) and survives in some dialects of the East and above all of the South;^[2][5] the new form took hold only in part of the northern dialects.^[2][5]

Cognate with Italian tossire, Portuguese tossir and, with a change of conjugation like the French verb, Spanish toser.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in the Charité of the Reclus de Molliens (first quarter of the 13th century), says of a ewe that it assés tousse “coughs a great deal”; the form could also belong to toussir.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb has meant to force air out of the lungs in a fit of coughing since its first records.^[2][3] From 1669 (La Fontaine) it is also used of a deliberate cough, to warn someone or to clear the throat.^[3][6] By analogy it is said of an engine that misfires (Duhamel, 1934).^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1176–1181 – Tossir “to cough” in Chrétien de Troyes' Chevalier de la charrette.^[2]
• 1200–1225 – Tousse in the Reclus de Molliens.^[2]
• 1444 – Tousser in the Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris.^[2]
• 1649 – Scarron still uses toussir.^[2]
• 1669 – La Fontaine uses it of a deliberate cough.^[3][6]
• 1934 – Duhamel uses it of an engine.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To cough: Il tousse depuis trois jours.^[7][8][1]
2. (intransitive) To cough on purpose, to clear one's throat or give a signal.^[7][6]
3. (intransitive) Of an engine, to misfire, run unevenly.^[7][2]

Word family

• toussailler
• toussoter
• tousserie
• tousseur

Related words

• toux
• Latin tussis

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 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 442a
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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)