faux-bourdon

faux-bourdon

French

FWOTD – 7 November 2020

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fo.buʁ.dɔ̃/

Noun

faux-bourdon m (plural faux-bourdons)

1. drone (bee)
   • 2013 February 15, Stéphanie Forestier, "C’est le moment de louer une ruche", le Parisien.

     Les abeilles dites Frère Adam ont d’abord grandi dans une nurserie et sont issues d’une reine et d’un faux-bourdon.

     The so-called Brother Adam bees first grew up in a nursery and came from a queen and a drone.

2. a musical style in which a countermelody sung above the melody and another sung below create the impression of a bass that isn't really there

Further reading

• “faux-bourdon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.