piss English · revision 7086

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1290|origins=fro pissier}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɪs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English pissen, [[bor|fro|pissier|t=to urinate]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from Vulgar Latin *pissiāre, of imitative origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Word Origins notes that forms of the word are found in both Romance and Germanic languages.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To urinate: about 1290 in the OED, about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The noun, urine, is from before 1387, in Trevisa.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To piss money against the wall, to waste it, is from the 1540s, and a ''pissing while'' once meant a short time (1550s).^(Etymonline) To rain heavily and other allusive uses are from 1602.^(OED 1989) ''Piss off'', to annoy, is from 1937,^(OED 1989) and ''piss about'', to fool around, from 1950.^(OED 1989) As an intensifier, as in ''piss-poor'', it dates from 1940 and was popularized in the Second World War.^(Etymonline) ''Piss away'', to squander, is from 1948.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1290 – to urinate.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1387 – urine (noun).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1540s – piss money against the wall.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1937 – piss off, to annoy.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1940 – as an intensifier.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' To [[urinate]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(piss off, vulgar slang)'' To annoy; or, as an order, to go away.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(piss away, vulgar slang)'' To waste or squander.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' [[urine|alt=Urine]], or an act of urinating.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pissed]]

+ * [[pismire]]

+ * [[urinate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ SOED labels the noun and verb ''now coarse slang''.^(SOED 2002) In British slang ''pissed'' means drunk, while in American slang it means angry.^(SOED 2002)^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}