bisque

bisque

See also: bisqué

English

WOTD – 6 June 2016

A bowl of lobster bisque (sense 1)

A Queen Alexandra bisque doll with a head made of bisque (sense 3), from the collection of the Guildhall Museum in Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /bɪsk/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪsk

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French bisque, possibly from Biscaye.

Noun

bisque (countable and uncountable, plural bisques)

1. A thick creamy soup made from fish, shellfish, meat or vegetables.

   lobster bisque

2. A pale pinkish brown colour.

   bisque:  

3. (ceramics) A form of unglazed earthenware; biscuit.

Derived terms

• bisque doll

Translations

thick creamy soup

Catalan: bisque f Finnish: bisque French: bisque (fr) f German: Bisque f Ido: bisko (io) Japanese: ビスク (bisuku) Malay: biska Russian: густо́й (ru) (gustój) суп (ru) m (sup)

form of unglazed earthenware

Finnish: bisque French: biscuit (fr) m Polish: biskwit (pl) m

Adjective

bisque (not comparable)

1. Of a pale pinkish brown colour.

Related terms

• biscuit (adjective)

See also

• Appendix:Colors

Verb

bisque (third-person singular simple present bisques, present participle bisquing, simple past and past participle bisqued)

1. (transitive) To prepare ceramics in the bisque style.
   • 2018, Melissa Weiss, Handbuilt, A Potter's Guide (page 147)

     I use an electric kiln strictly for bisquing my pots.

Translations

Translations

Polish: biskwitować impf

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French bisque, of unknown origin; Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française,[1] suggests a comparison with Spanish bisca (“gambling house, gambling den”).

Noun

bisque (plural bisques)

1. (sports) An extra turn, free point or some other advantage allowed.
   • 1937 March 19, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, Lord Emsworth and Others, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 851336728; republished Woodstock, N.Y.: The Overlook Press, 2002, ISBN 978-1-58567-277-6 , pages 137–138:

     Going round with Angus McTavish carrying your bag, she mused, was equivalent to about four bisques to the opposition. Angus McTavish was the sort of man who, just by going about looking like a frozen asset, takes all the edge and zip out of a girl's game.

   1. A free turn in a handicap croquet match.
   2. A free point in a handicap real tennis match.
2. (chiefly British) Exemption from work or other duty on a particular day.
   1. (chiefly BBC, historical) A day's leave an employee may take without warning or reason and not be counted as annual leave.
   2. (British parliament) Permission for an MP to be absent from a vote, granted by the whips when the absence is not likely to affect the outcome.

Derived terms

• bisquer

References

1. Émile Littré (1863–1872) Dictionnaire de la langue française contenant la nomenclature, la grammaire, la signification des mots, la partie historique, l'etymologie, Paris: Hachette, OCLC 683360373.

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bisk/
• Homophones: bisquent, bisques

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Possibly from Norman dialect bisque (“bitter drink”). There is no clear evidence for a derivation from Biscay.

Noun

bisque f (plural bisques)

1. bisque (soup, colour)

Etymology 2

Uncertain. A relationship with other senses of bisque and bisquer is possible, but unclear. Alternatively, may be derived from Italian bisca (“gambling den”), or from Medieval Latin biscator (“gambler”).

Noun

bisque f (plural bisques)

1. (tennis) advantage

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

bisque

1. inflection of bisquer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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