pisser (French)
Where does "pisser" come from?
French pisser is inherited from Old French pissier, which in turn goes back to Vulgar Latin pīssiāre. The ultimate source is uncertain, sometimes linked to a Germanic influence, but more likely an echoic, sound‑imitating formation, yet it spread widely across Romance, as seen in cognates like Catalan pixar, Italian pisciare, and Romanian pișa. In French it kept the basic sense “to urinate” and also developed an extended use meaning “to pour (a liquid).”
Full etymology tree
- pisser (French), 'to piss'
- inherited from pissier (Old French), 'to piss; to excrete urine'
- inherited from *pīssiāre (Latin), 'to urinate'
- derived from piss- (echoic/onomatopoeic base) (Onomatopoeic / sound-symbolic base)
- inherited from *pīssiāre (Latin), 'to urinate'
- inherited from pissier (Old French), 'to piss; to excrete urine'
Ancestors
- pissier (Old French)
Cognates and doublets
- pixar (Catalan)
- pisciare (Italian)
- pișa (Romanian)
Descendants and derived words
- laisser pisser (French)
- ne plus se sentir pisser (French)
- pisse (French)
- pisse (French)
- pissenlit (French)
- pisser dans son froc (French)
- pisseur (French)
- pisseuse (French)
- pleuvoir comme vache qui pisse (French)
Updated March 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris