gosse French · revision 16578

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1796 (Esnault)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡɔs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gosse''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural gosses)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Gousse'' in 1808 (d'Hautel).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) The Petit Robert, the GLLF and Wiktionary suggest an alteration of slang [[gonze]] “man, fellow”, which the TLFi rejects for reasons of sound and sense.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi) The TLFi also rejects a link with [[gausser]] and a borrowing from [[sv|gosse|t=boy]], which is improbable in form and date, and notes that the form “gousse” of 1808 brings it close to [[gouspin]] “street urchin”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Pierre Guiraud proposed [[oc|gous|t=dog]] (“gousset”, “goussoun” “puppy”), on the model of [[chiot]], which can mean both a puppy and a kid, Sainéan had compared the same words, but the TLFi finds the sense link unconvincing.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Esnault dates the word to 1796 in the sense “kid, young rascal”; the TLFi's first sure example, ''gosse'', is from 1846 (''L'Intérieur des prisons'').^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A slang word at first, ''gosse'' came to mean any child, and a child in relation to its parents (1886), then a teenager; in slang ''la gosse'' was a man's mistress (1890) and ''le gosse'' a lover (1903).^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992) It is now an ordinary familiar word, with ''beau gosse'' “good-looking boy” and ''gosse de riche''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1796 – First recorded, according to Esnault.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1808 – ''Gousse'', d'Hautel.^(TLFi)

+ * 1846 – ''Gosse'', ''L'Intérieur des prisons''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1886 – A child in relation to its parents.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1890 – ''La gosse'' “mistress”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(familiar)'' A [[m|en|kid]], child: ''un gosse d'une dizaine d'années'', ''un sale gosse'', a brat, ''quand j'étais gosse''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar)'' One's child, son or daughter: ''avoir des gosses''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Un beau gosse'', ''une belle gosse'': a good-looking young man or woman.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gosseline]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Quebec French a separate word ''gosse'' (feminine), from a regional pronunciation of [[gousse]], means “testicle”; it makes the European use of ''gosse'' for “child” impossible in Quebec.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) In Louisiana ''gosse'' is a husk or a clove of garlic, a variant of ''gousse'' or [[cosse]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}