couillon

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French couillon, from Old French coillon (“testicle”), from Late Latin cōleōnem, derived from Latin cōleus (“sack, bag; scrotum”). By surface analysis, couille +‎ -on. Compare Occitan colhon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku.jɔ̃/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

couillon m (plural couillons, feminine couillonne)

1. (informal) dickhead, bastard, pillock

   Il t'a vraiment trompée ? J'étais sûr que c'était un couillon, ce type.

   He really cheated on you? I knew that guy was a bastard.

2. (informal) coward

   C'est un vrai couillon, il est pas capable d'aborder une fille.

   He's a real coward, he's not capable of approaching a girl.

3. (card games) a Belgian card game that is also played in Limburg and on the border of Luxemburg and Germany
4. (Louisiana) joker, funny person; nut, nutter
5. (Louisiana) fool, simpleton, nitwit

Adjective

couillon (feminine couillonne, masculine plural couillons, feminine plural couillonnes)

1. (vulgar) fucking stupid
2. (Louisiana) foolish

Usage notes

• As both an adjective and a noun, couillon is common in the everyday vernacular of residents of southwest Louisiana and the Cajun enclaves that exist there in. At best the term would be used to express 'fool' or 'idiot.' On the other end of the spectrum of vernacular nuance, the term could be used to express disdain for someone who is a 'dumbass ignorant fool from the bayou who doesn't care that he is ignorant, inept, and unlearned. The use of couillon in the latter context is often expressed with humor, disdain, pity and bewilderment.

Derived terms

• couillonner
• couyon
• oiseau couillon

Related terms

• couille

Descendants

• Louisiana Creole: couyon
• Cajun French: couyon

Further reading

• “couillon”, in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse
• Littré, Émile (1873–1878), “couillon”, in Dictionnaire de la langue française, Paris: L. Hachette
• “couillon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009; →ISBN; →ISBN)
• A detailed explanation of the couillon card game family

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French coillon.

Noun

couillon m (plural couillons)

1. (vulgar) dickhead, bastard
   • 1552, François Rabelais, Le Tiers Livre:

     Il est (dist lors frere Ian) sourd. Il n'entend ce que tu luy diz couillon.

     He is (said their brother Jan) deaf. He can't hear what you say, dickhead.

Related terms

• couille

Descendants

• French: couillon
• → Alemannic German: Gajung
• → German: Kujon (see there for further descendants)