baiser French · revision 16504

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 980, Passion de Clermont|origins=la bāsium}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɛ.ze/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /be.ze/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''baiser'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|baisier]].^(Wiktionary)^(AND)

+ The noun '''baiser''' ''m'' (plural ''baisers''), first ''baisair'' (about 980), is the infinitive used as a noun.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|baisier]], [[inh|la|bāsiō|t=to kiss]], from [[m|la|bāsium|t=a kiss]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|1, 268b) “Bāsium” was at first an erotic word, used beside [[m|la|ōsculum]] and avoided by classical writers, Catullus seems to have brought it into written Latin, and it alone passed into the Romance languages.^(DHLF 1992) Rey thinks it may be a borrowing, perhaps Celtic, Bloch and Wartburg note that “bāsiāre” was first used of kisses given to respected persons and early replaced [[m|la|suāvior]] and [[m|la|ōsculor]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|baciare]], [[oc|baisar]], [[ca|besar]], [[es|besar]] and [[pt|beijar]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first record (about 980) is the kiss between Christ and his disciples, in particular the kiss of Judas.^(DHLF 1992) In the ''Chanson de Roland'' Marsile kisses Ganelon on the neck: ''si l'ad baiset al col''.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was used of lovers from the 12th century, transitively and absolutely (1461), which led to its euphemistic use for sexual intercourse, attested in the 16th and 17th centuries, at first ambiguously, Molière's ''baiserai-je, mon père?'' already raised a laugh.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) The obscene sense has become the dominant one, and in the sense “to kiss” the verb has been replaced by [[embrasser]], except in set phrases (''baiser la main'') and in North America and Belgium.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) From the sexual sense came “to cheat, screw” (once in the early 16th century, again from 1881).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The noun ''baiser'' “a kiss”, long felt as affected, did not take on the obscene sense and has kept its vitality, beside familiar [[bise]] and [[bisou]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 980 – The kiss of Judas.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 980 – The noun ''baisair''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Si l'ad baiset al col'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(Littré 1873)

+ * 12th century – Of lovers.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1306 – ''Baisemain''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 16th century – The sexual sense.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1881 – “To cheat, screw”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(dated, except in set phrases; usual in North America and Belgium)'' To [[m|en|kiss]]: ''baiser la main d'une dame'', ''baiser un crucifix''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(vulgar)'' To have sex (with).^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' To cheat, screw, get the better of: ''se faire baiser''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A kiss: ''un baiser sur la joue'', ''un baiser d'adieu''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[baisemain]]

+ * [[baisement]]

+ * [[baiseur]]

+ * [[baisoter]]

+ * [[baise]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[embrasser]]

+ * [[bise]]

+ * [[bisou]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}