urine

Forms

urine f (plural urines)^[1] Old French orine, the usual form in Old and Middle French;^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman also had ourine, uryne.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle French urine, the old form inherited from Old French orine remade after Classical Latin ūrīna (“urine”).^[2][5][1] The Old French form is inherited from Vulgar Latin *aurīna, a popular crossing of the Latin word with aurum (“gold”), properly “gold-coloured liquid”;^[2][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg take the crossing to have been made in jest.^[3][7] The old form was still in use in the 15th century.^[3]

Cognate with Italian orina, Spanish orina and Old Occitan aurina.^[2][3] Rey links the Latin word to Ancient Greek οὐρέω (ouréō, “to urinate”), and notes that the Latin word also meant “semen” in Juvenal, while the Latin verb ūrīnor (“to dive”) points to an older sense “liquid, water”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as orine in Wace's Brut (about 1155) and in Chrétien de Troyes' Cligès (1176), meaning urine; a 12th-century translation of the Book of Kings already has le urine beivre “to drink urine”.^[2][8][9]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its single sense since Old French.^[2][5] Medieval medicine judged health by inspecting the urine, and the Anglo-Norman word was used of urine as a diagnostic medium.^[4][9] In the 14th century the form urine, remade on the Latin, is recorded in the Aalma glossary and replaced orine.^[2][5]

Urine has stayed a learned or medical word, beside the vulgar pisse and the familiar pipi.^[5][2] The derived verb uriner (about 1300 or 1380) took the place of oriner.^[3][5]

Timeline

• c. 1155 – Orine appears in Wace's Brut.^[2][8]
• 1176 – Chrétien de Troyes uses orine in Cligès.^[2]
• late 14th century – The form urine is recorded in the Aalma glossary.^[2][5]
• 15th century – Orine is still in use.^[3][9]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the derivative urineux.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. urine, the clear amber liquid formed by the kidneys, stored in the bladder and passed through the urethra.^[10][2][8]
2. Les urines: the urine passed, especially as examined in medicine: analyse d'urines.^[10][8]

Word family

• urinaire
• uriner
• urineux

Related words

• urinal
• urinoir
• uretère
• Latin ūrīna

Usage notes

Rétention d'urine and incontinence d'urine are the usual medical phrases.^[8][9] The English word urine was taken from Anglo-Norman.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 62a
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert