polisson

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

French polissonbor.

English polisson

Borrowed from French polisson.

Noun

polisson

1. (rare) A dishonest or mischievous person; a scamp.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:villain

   • 1896 October, George du Maurier, “The Martian”, in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, volume XCIII, number DLVII, New York, N.Y.: Harper and Brothers, page 664, column 1:

     The polisson picked up his pocket-handkerchief and went—quite quietly, with simple manly grace; and that's the first I ever saw of Barty Josselin—and it was some fifty years ago.

References

• “polisson, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

French

Etymology

From polisse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔ.li.sɔ̃/

Noun

polisson m (plural polissons)

1. naughty child, scamp
   • 1958, Georges Brassens (lyrics and music), “Le Pornographe”:

     J’suis l’pornographe / Du phonographe / Le polisson / De la chanson

     I'm the pornographer / Of the phonograph / The scallywag / Of the song

Adjective

polisson (feminine polissonne, masculine plural polissons, feminine plural polissonnes)

1. mischievous
2. licentious, shameless

Descendants

• → Catalan: polissó
• → Spanish: polizón
• → English: polisson

Further reading

• “polisson”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• spolions