*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of piss

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 (

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

Urine. · The act of urinating. · Alcoholic beverage, especially of inferior quality. · An intensifier.

intj

Expresses anger, disappointment or dissatisfaction.

verb

To urinate. · To discharge as or with the urine. · To achieve easily. · To rain heavily.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionpisseenm
  • Derivation mentionpissierfro
  • Cognate mentionpissanon · to urinate, piss
  • Non-cognate comparisonmiċġeang · urine
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "pisse",
        "pos": "noun"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English pisse (noun)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "pissier"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French pissier"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-vul",
        "3": "*pīssiāre"
      },
      "expansion": "Vulgar Latin *pīssiāre"
    },
    {
      "name": "onom",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "title": "imitative"
      },
      "expansion": "imitative"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "pissa",
        "t": "to urinate, piss"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse pissa (“to urinate, piss”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "Displaced"
      },
      "expansion": "Displaced"
    },
    {
      "name": "ncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "miċġe",
        "3": "",
        "t": "urine",
        "lit": "",
        "pos": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": "",
        "id": "",
        "sc": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Old English miċġe (“urine”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "displaced",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "miċġe",
        "3": "",
        "4": "urine"
      },
      "expansion": "Displaced Old English miċġe (“urine”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "pisse",
      "pisse#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "pissen",
      "pissen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "pissier",
      "pissier#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "*pīssiāre",
      "Reconstruction:Latin/pissiare"
    ],
    [
      "pissa",
      "pissa#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "miċġe",
      "micge#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "mīgan",
      "migan#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Urine.",
        "The act of urinating.",
        "Alcoholic beverage, especially of inferior quality.",
        "An intensifier."
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "attributive"
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 184925
    },
    {
      "pos": "intj",
      "glosses": [
        "Expresses anger, disappointment or dissatisfaction."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "mildly",
        "vulgar"
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 184927
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To urinate.",
        "To discharge as or with the urine.",
        "To achieve easily.",
        "To rain heavily."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "mildly",
        "vulgar",
        "transitive",
        "Commonwealth",
        "Ireland",
        "UK",
        "slang",
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      ],
      "recordId": "dbe04659f6e0c569dd669d3d9aeafd1c2c8f1dc0a08aa26b77d257463dc545ae",
      "rawRecordSha256": "c9413d4b44823562e3867140fff184d3215d5a2e3a434ffb01e98e146f72951d",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 184926
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for piss →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cGlzcw