cuisse French · revision 17623

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la coxa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɥis/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cuisse''' ''f'' (plural cuisses)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|quisse]];^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) ''cuisse'' from the 12th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|quisse]], [[inh|la|coxa|t=hip bone, hip; thigh]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|2, 1260b)^(Grand Robert 2005) The Latin word must originally have named a joint in general, since the corresponding words in other languages apply to various joints: [[sga|cos|t=foot]], [[sa|कक्ष|tr=kakṣa|t=armpit]].^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary traces it to [[ine-pro|*koḱs-|t=joint, limb]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ In Latin the word came to mean the thigh and replaced the classical [[m|la|femur]], which had become confusable with the word for dung, [[m|la|fimus]]; the hip was then named by a Germanic word, [[hanche]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi) Cognate with [[ro|coapsă]], [[it|coscia]], [[oc|cuèissa|alt=cueissa]], [[ca|cuixa]] and [[pt|coxa]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) a horse has ''courte la quisse et la croupe bien large''.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word is used mainly of people, but also of animals and especially of a cooked bird, as opposed to the wing.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Like [[fesse]] and [[cul]], though less often, it carries erotic connotations when said of a woman, as in ''avoir la cuisse légère''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) ''Se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter'', alluding to Bacchus born from Jupiter's thigh, means to think oneself exceptional.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) In butchery it gave [[cuissot]] (about 1200), for large game, and [[cuisseau]] (1651), now for veal.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Quisse'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – The derivative ''cuissot''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1347 – ''Cuissette''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1642 – ''Cuissard''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1651 – ''Cuisseau'', said of a roe deer.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|thigh]], the part of the leg between hip and knee.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The corresponding part of an animal's hind leg; the leg of a cooked bird: ''une cuisse de poulet'', ''cuisses de grenouille''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter'': to think highly of oneself.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Avoir la cuisse légère'': of a woman, to be free with her favours.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dialectal)'' A segment of some fruits, such as an orange.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cuissard]]

+ * [[cuissière]]

+ * [[cuissot]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[coxal]]

+ * [[coussin]]

+ * [[hanche]]

+ * [[la|coxa]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}