20kWEB: Origin of the word Debauch. Etymology of the word Debauch. Etymology Dictionary.

DEBAUCH, to seduce, corrupt. (F.) Only the pp. debauched is in Shakespeare, and it is generally spelt debosh'd; Tempest, iii. 2. 29.—O.F. desbaucher (mod. F. débaucher), to debosh, mar, corrupt, spoil, viciate, seduce, mislead, make lewd, bring to disorder, draw from goodness.—O.F. des-, prefix, from Lat. dis-, away from; and O.F. bauche, of rather uncertain meaning. Cotgrave has: 'bauche, a rew [row], rank, lane, or course of stones or bricks in building.' See Bauche in Diez, who remarks that, according to Nicot, it means a plastering of a wall, according to Ménage, a workshop (apparently in order to suggest an impossible derivation from Lat. apotheca). β. The compounds are esbaucher, to rough-hew, frame (Cotgrave), embaucher, 'to imploy, occupy, use in business, put unto work' (id.), and desbaucher. Roquefort explains O.F. bauche as a little house, to make it equivalent to Low Lat. bugia, a little house. Diez proposes to explain débaucher by 'to entice away from a workshop.' He suggests as the origin either Gael. balc, a balk, boundary, ridge of earth, or the Icel. bálkr, a balk, beam. γ. I incline to the latter of these suggestions; the word bauche had clearly some connection with building operations. At this rate, we should have esbaucher, to balk out, i.e. set to work on a building; embaucher, to balk in, to set to work on a building; desbaucher, to dis-balk, to take away the frame or the supports of a building before finished. See Balk. Der. debauch, sb.; debauch-ee (F. débauché, debauched); debauch-er-y.

Etymology Dictionary

Origin of the word DEBAUCH. Etymology of the word DEBAUCH.