1836, mangled Englishing of French chassé "gliding step" (in square dancing), literally "chased," past participle of chasser "to chase," from Old French chacier "to hunt," from Vulgar Latin *captiare "try to seize, chase," from Latin captare "to take, hold," frequentative of capere "to take, hold," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp." Compare chase, catch. Related: Sashayed; sashaying. The noun is attested from 1900.