puce

See also: pucé, puče, pūce, pūcē, and pucē

English

Etymology

From French couleur puce, from Latin pūlex (“flea”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pjuːs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈpjʉs/
• Rhymes: -uːs

Noun

puce (countable and uncountable, plural puces)

1. A brownish-purple color, sometimes more or less deep red or grayish.

   puce:  

   dark puce:  

   • 1881, Alvin Wood Chase, Dr. Chase's Recipes Or, Information for Everybody, page 596:

     For blacks, browns, puces, and violets, the acetate or tartrate of iron must be employed.

   • 2003, J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix, page 149:

     "Laws can be changed," said Fudge savagely. "Of course they can," said Dumbledore, inclining his head. "And you certainly seem to be making many changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has already become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic!" A few of the wizards above them shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Fudge turned a slightly deeper shade of puce. The toadlike witch on the right, however, merely glanced at Dumbledore, her face quite expressionless.

Translations

colour

• Afrikaans: persbruin
• Czech: tmavě fialová
• Finnish: punaisenruskea
• Greek: ερυθρόμαυρο n (erythrómavro)
• Japanese: 暗赤色 (あんせきしょく, ansekishoku)
• Norwegian: dypt rødt n, ildrødt n, loppefarge m, mørkt purpurrødt n, rødbrunt n
• Portuguese: cor de pulga (pt) f
• Spanish: granate (es) (dark puce)
• Welsh: gwineugoch m, glasgoch m, piws m

Adjective

puce (comparative pucer, superlative pucest)

1. Of a brownish-purple color, sometimes more or less deep red or grayish.

Descendants

• → Welsh: piws

Translations

colour

• Czech: tmavě fialový
• Finnish: punaisenruskea
• Greek: ερυθρόμαυρος m (erythrómavros)
• Irish: ruachorcra
• Japanese: 暗赤色の (あんせきしょくの, ansekishoku no)
• Norwegian: dyp rød, ildrød, loppefarget, mørk purpurrød, rødbrun
• Welsh: gwineugoch, glasgoch, piws

See also

• Appendix:Colors

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pys/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Homophones: puces, pusse, pussent, pusses

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French puce, pulce, from Latin pūlicem, the accusative form of pūlex, from Proto-Indo-European *plus- (“flea”).

Noun

puce f (plural puces)

1. flea
2. chip (electronics), silicon chip
3. (typography) bullet
4. (endearing) sweetie (used to address a young girl, or a woman one is romantically involved with)

Derived terms

• excité comme une puce
• marché aux puces
• mettre la puce à l'oreille
• puces savantes
• sac à puces
• saut de puce
• secouer les puces

Descendants

• Mauritian Creole: pis
• → English: puce
  • → Welsh: piws

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

puce

1. inflection of pucer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pǫtьce, a deminutive form of Proto-Slavic *pǫto. First attested in the 16th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pût͡se/
• Hyphenation: pu‧ce

Noun

pȕce n (Cyrillic spelling пу̏це)

1. button

Declension

Declension of puce

	singular	plural
nominative	pȕce	pucèta
genitive	pȕceta	pucétā
dative	pȕcetu	pucètima
accusative	pȕce	pucèta
vocative	pȕce	pucèta
locative	pȕcetu	pucètima
instrumental	pȕcetom	pucètima

Further reading

• “puce”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026
• Skok, Petar (1972), “puce”, in Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language] (in Serbo-Croatian), volumes 2 (K – poni¹), Zagreb: JAZU, page 65

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

puce (Cyrillic spelling пуце)

1. inflection of puca:
   1. genitive singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural