English

Proper noun

Louise

1. A female given name.
   • 1890 Arthur Weir, John Arthur Lockhart: The Romance of Sir Richard. Published by William Drysdale&Co. page 83:

     Louise, thy stately name sounds in my ear / Like a sea wave, that gathering, hill on hill, / Upon the blue horizon, smooth and still, / Sweeps to the shore

   • 1957 Ed McBain, The Con Man, Armchair Detective Library (1991), ISBN 0922890935, page 47:

     That's what I baptized her. Mary Louise. Everybody else called her just plain Mary, but that wasn't the way I intended it. I intended it Mary Louise. That's a pretty name, isn't it? Mary Louise. Mary is too...plain?

   • 1991 Emily Ellison, The Picture Makers, G.K.Hall, ISBN 0816151660, page 111:

     I've always thought I was too large for a soft, musical name like Louise, too untidy.

Usage notes

Used in English since the seventeenth century, more in the U.K. than in the U.S.A. A common middle name today.

Related terms

• Lou, Louie, Louisa, Lula, Lulu

Translations

Danish

Etymology

From French Louise.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /luiːsə/, [luˈiːsə]

Proper noun

Louise

1. A female given name.

Related terms

• Lovise

References

• Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 51 558 females with the given name Louise have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1980s. Accessed on 19 May, 2011.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lwiz/

Proper noun

Louise f

1. A female given name, feminine form of Louis.

Related terms

• Marie-Louise

German

Proper noun

Louise

1. A female given name borrowed from French Louise.

Norwegian

Proper noun

Louise

1. A female given name borrowed from French Louise.

Swedish

Etymology

From French Louise. First recorded in Sweden in 1698.

Proper noun

Louise

1. A female given name.

Related terms

• Lovisa

References

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, ISBN 91-21-10937-0
• Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, ISBN 9119551622:52 540 females with the given name Louise living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1990s. Accessed on May 19th, 2011.

French

Noun

louise f ‎(plural louises)

1. (colloquial) fart
   • 2002, Patrice Dard, Un pompier nommé Béru: Les Nouvelles aventures de San-Antonio, Fayard (ISBN 9782213675466)

     – Pas l'gaz ! ricane l'Enflure. Tire mon p'tit doigt. J'vais te craquer une louise qu'si ton cocu y croive pas qu'on vient d'vous l'installer, l'gaz, c'est qu'y manque vraiment d'imagination.

   • 2003 July 3, Gregoire Kretz, “Porier lent au démarage”, in fr.rec.jardinage, Usenet:

     Vi, vu qu'à force de bons mots et de contrepets y en a bien un(e) qui va nous craquer une louise, bonne mère!

   • 2011, SAN-ANTONIO, Princesse Patte-en-l'air, 12-21 (ISBN 9782265092242)

     Pour ne pas être en reste, l'un des occupants se met à craquer une louise, mais après tout, peutêtre s'agitil du même qui serait biloque.

   • 2014, Samuel Sutra, Le Bazar et la Nécessité: (Tonton sème le doute)

     J'ai un bras droit qui, quand il pense lâcher une louise discrète fait le même bruit qu'un Boeing au décollage.