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trousse

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Etymology and origin of the French word trousse

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1100s late 12th century, an Old French glossary (ed. Gröber), as trusse More words from the 11th century
Ultimate origin
Latin torqueō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French trousser
French trousse
Romanian trusă

Pronunciation

Forms

trousse f (plural trousses)[1] Old French trusse (late 12th century), torse (about 1210) and tourse.[2][3]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French trousser.[2][4][5] The verb, Old French trosser, comes from Vulgar Latin *torsō, a popular Latin verb formed on *torsus, a past participle of Latin torqueō (“to twist”) used beside tortus; the ⟨r⟩ moved forward early, while the old variants torser and tourser keep the Latin order.[6][7] The verb first meant to tie up a load on a pack animal, since the load was bound with ropes.[7][6]

Littré cites Occitan trossa and Portuguese trouxa (“bundle”), and he notes a Celtic explanation, but follows Diez in deriving the word from the Latin participle.[3] Meyer-Lübke lists the verb under Latin thyrsus, calling it doubtful.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A manuscript glossary of the late 12th century has trusse “bundle of things tied together, bale”.[2][6] Rey notes that its diminutive trousseau is recorded even earlier, so the noun must be older still.[6]

Semantic evolution

From “bundle”, still alive in dialects from Savoy to Provence for a sack or cloth for carrying hay,[6] the word came to mean a container: a travelling bag (1360), a quiver (1364), then a case for a set of tools, first a barber's case (1660).[2][6] Used alone, it has meant the schoolchild's pencil case since the late 19th century.[6]

Trousses were also short puffed breeches (1570), worn by pages in the 17th century; the dress has gone, but aux trousses de “in close pursuit of” (1616) still lives.[2][6] En trousse “riding pillion” (about 1560) disappeared with the sense “pack tied behind the saddle”.[6] Technical uses followed: a carpenter's hoisting rope (1680), a leather strap for a horse's tail (1832) and a ring used in mine shafts (1872).[6]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – Trusse “bundle” in a glossary.[2]
  • c. 1210 – The form torse appears in Dolopathos.[2]
  • 1260 – Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers has trousse.[2]
  • 1360 – First used for a travelling bag.[2][6]
  • 1364 – It names a quiver.[2]
  • 1570 – Trousses are a kind of breeches.[2][6]
  • 1616 – D'Aubigné uses aux trousses de “in pursuit of”.[2]
  • 1660 – Oudin records a barber's case.[2]
  • 1690 – Furetière records the pack carried behind the saddle.[2][6]
  • Late 19th century – It comes to mean a pencil case.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A case or kit with compartments holding a set of objects for one use: trousse de toilette, trousse à outils.[9][10][1]
  2. A pencil case.[1][6]
  3. Aux trousses de quelqu'un: in pursuit of someone;[9][11] avoir le feu aux trousses, to be in a great hurry.[9][11]
  4. (dated or regional) A bundle or truss of hay or fodder.[9][2]
  5. (historical) Short, puffed breeches.[9][11]
  6. (dated) A quiver.[3][10]

Word family

  • trousseau

Usage notes

Littré records the old figurative phrase donner une trousse à quelqu'un, to play a trick on someone.[3]

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 o 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  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. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Trousse.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/trousse. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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