couille (French)
Where does "couille" come from?
French couille is inherited through Middle French couille and Old French coille. It goes back to Vulgar Latin *cōlea, a plural form reshaped from Latin cōleus, which meant a sack or the scrotum/testicles. Along the way, the sense stayed close to “testicle,” with modern French preserving the earthy everyday meaning as “ball” or “bollock.”
Full etymology tree
- couille (French), 'nut, ball, bollock (testicle)'
- inherited from couille (Middle French), 'nut, ball, bollock (testicle)'
- inherited from coille (Old French), 'ball, testicle'
- inherited from *cōlea (Vulgar Latin)
- derived from cōleus (Latin), 'sack (scrotum or testicles)'
- derived from colare (Latin), 'second-person singular present passive subjunctive of colō'
- derived from cōleus (Latin), 'sack (scrotum or testicles)'
- inherited from *cōlea (Vulgar Latin)
- inherited from coille (Old French), 'ball, testicle'
- inherited from couille (Middle French), 'nut, ball, bollock (testicle)'
Ancestors
- couille (Middle French)
- coille (Old French)
- coleum (Latin)
- coleus (Latin)
Descendants and derived words
- briser les couilles (French)
- casser les couilles (French)
- couille dans le pâté (French)
- couille dans le potage (French)
- couille de mammouth (French)
- couille molle (French)
- couillu (French)
- de mes couilles (French)
- en avoir plein les couilles (French)
- entre couilles (French)
- mettre ses couilles sur la table (French)
- partir en couille (French)
Updated March 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris