Cuisse

Cuisse is a French noun that means the thigh. The term is used in several domains, including anatomy, cuisine, and historical armor. In English-language texts it often appears in loaned phrases or when discussing French culinary terms such as haut de cuisse.

In human anatomy, the cuisse refers to the thigh, the region of the leg between the hip and the knee. It contains the femur and major muscle groups, including the quadriceps and hamstrings, and serves as the primary link between the hip and the knee.

In cooking, cuisse denotes meat from the thigh of an animal. In French cuisine, cuisses of poultry such as cuisses de poulet (chicken thighs) or cuisses de canard (duck legs) are common. The upper portion may be indicated as haut de cuisse, while the lower portion is bas de cuisse. Frog legs are also referred to as cuisses de grenouille.

In medieval and later armor, cuisse (plural cuisses) refers to the thigh protection of plate armor. These thigh plates formed part of the leg harness and were connected to the knee protection and the greaves that shielded the lower leg.

Etymology wise, cuisse comes from French, meaning thigh, with origins in Latin coxa or related roots. The term highlights the shared concept of the upper leg across different languages and practices.