Etymology

piss

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Today it means: Urine. Full definition →

First used 14th c.Middle English pisse ← Old French pissier ← Vulgar Latin *pīssiāre
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The story

  1. Vulgar Latin · derived from*pīssiāre
  2. Old French · derived frompissier
  3. Middle English · inherited frompisse
  4. English todaypiss

From Middle English pisse (noun) and pissen (verb), from Old French pissier, possibly from Vulgar Latin *pīssiāre, probably of imitative origin. Compare Old Norse pissa (“to urinate, piss”). Displaced Old English miċġe (“urine”) and mīgan (“to urinate”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 14th c. Urine.
  • from 19th c. The act of urinating.
  • from 20th c. Alcoholic beverage, especially of inferior quality.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.