chier (French)
Where does "chier" come from?
The French verb 'chier' meaning to defecate is inherited from the Middle French 'chier', which traces back through Old French to the Latin 'cacāre'[1][2]. This Latin term originates from the Proto-Indo-European root '*kakka-', a word often considered to be an imitative or expressive term reflecting natural sounds[1][4]. The word serves as a doublet to the French term 'caguer'[1].
Open questions
- The Proto-Indo-European root '*kakka-' is likely a nursery word of imitative origin rather than a standard derived term. [7]
Full etymology tree
- chier (French), 'to shit, defecate'
- inherited chier (Middle French), 'important, noteworthy'
- inherited chier (Old French), 'important, noteworthy'
- inherited cacare (Latin), 'inflection of cacō:'
- inherited *kakāō (Proto-Italic)
- inherited *kakka- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to defecate'
- inherited *kakāō (Proto-Italic)
- inherited cacare (Latin), 'inflection of cacō:'
- inherited chier (Old French), 'important, noteworthy'
- inherited chier (Middle French), 'important, noteworthy'
Ancestors
- chier (Middle French)
- chier (Old French)
- caco (Latin)
Cognates and doublets
- caguer (French)
Descendants and derived words
- à chier (French)
- à chier (French)
- chiant (French)
- chiant (French)
- chiasse (French)
- chiasse (French)
- chiée (French)
- chiée (French)
- chier dans son froc (French)
- chierie (French)
- chiotte (French)
- chiure (French)
Sources
- chier (French) - Wiktionary
- chier (Middle French) - Wiktionary
- chier (Old French) - Wiktionary
- caco (Latin) - Wiktionary
- carus (Latin) - Wiktionary
- kāros (Proto-Italic) - Wiktionary
- kakka- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris