bourdon
English
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle English burdoun (“accompaniment”), from Old French bordon, from Medieval Latin burdō, burdōnem (“drone”). The modern pronunciation is influenced by modern French bourdon.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbʊədən/
Noun
bourdon (plural bourdons)
- (music, archaic) The burden or bass of a melody.
- 1985, Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked:
- The earth tremors resumed and made a bourdon to the loud psalms that they sang, interspersed with the odd ode of Horace recited by Silas.
- 1985, Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked:
- The drone pipe of a bagpipe.
- The lowest-pitched stop of an organ.
- 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Vintage 2007, p. 5:
- The dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant organ.
- 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Vintage 2007, p. 5:
- The lowest-pitched bell of a carillon.
- A large, low-pitched bell not part of a diatonically tuned ring of bells.
- A bumblebee, genus Bombus.
Translations
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Etymology 2
Borrowed from Middle English burdoun (“pilgrim's staff”), from Old French bordon, from Medieval Latin burdō, burdōnem (“pilgrim's staff”).
Alternative forms
- bordon, burdon
Noun
bourdon (plural bourdons)
- (historical) A pilgrim's staff.
- 1883 October, M.H. Bloxam, “On The Sepulchral Effigy of a Pilgrim in St. Mary's Church, Haverfordwest, South Wales”, in Archaeologia Cambrensis, volume 14, number 56, page 258:
- The left hand was gone, this held the bourdon or pilgrim's staff, a small portion only of which appeared over the scrip.
- 1897 May, W. Connor Sydney, “Out With the Old Pilgrims”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, page 489:
- The pilgrim's return was denoted by a bunch of palm, which was tied round the head of the bourdon, the leaves being, of course, ghe guerdon of his enterprise, giving the name of Palmer to the tribe.
- 1904, James Blanton Wharey, A Study of the Sources of Bunyan's Allegories, page 29:
- Both in Wright's text and in Lydgate's version the hutch from which Grace Dieu gets the scrip and bourdon is said to contain 'many a fair jewel.'
- 1926, James Charles Wall, Pilgrimage, page 27:
- A thin wand is frequently bound against the pilgrim's bourdon in fifteenth century pictures.
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Anagrams
- obround
French
Etymology
From Middle French bourdon (“honeybee, bumblebee”), from Old French bordon (“bumblebee, drone, beetle, insect”), from Medieval Latin burdo (c. C.E. 1000), first recorded in the Homilies of King Ælfric, glossed by Old English dora (“bumblebee”). Of uncertain origin. Possibly from Frankish *boʀdō, *buʀdō (“beetle, insect”), from Proto-Germanic *buzdô (“beetle, grub”, literally “swelling”), from *būs- (“to erupt, burst, flow rapidly”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūs- (“to move quickly”), related to Old English budda (“beetle”), Middle Low German buddech (“thick, swollen”), Low German budde (“louse, grub”). See bug.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /buʁ.dɔ̃/
bourdon (file) - Rhymes: -ɔ̃
Noun
bourdon m (plural bourdons)
- bumblebee (species of bee)
- (music) drone
- (figurative, colloquial) blues (feeling of sadness)
- Synonym: cafard
- 1999, Anna Gavalda, “Permission”, in Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part, →ISBN:
- Je me souviens qu'il écrivait ça à un de ses copains qui avait le bourdon et qui voulait voyager. L'autre lui disait grosso modo que c'était pas la peine étant donné qu'il allait se trimballer son paquet d'emmerdements avec lui.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
Derived terms
- faux-bourdon
- bourdonner
- bourdonnement
Further reading
- “bourdon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Louisiana Creole French
Etymology
From French bourdon (“bee”).
Noun
bourdon
- bee, wasp
References
- Alcée Fortier, Louisiana Folktales
Middle English
Noun
bourdon
- Alternative form of burdoun (“pilgrim's staff”)
Norman
Etymology
From Old French bordon (“bumblebee, drone, beetle, insect”), from Medieval Latin burdo.
Noun
bourdon m (plural bourdons)
- (Jersey) bumblebee
Synonyms
- bourde
Derived terms
- bourdon à j'va (“botfly”)
- bourdon à myi (“honeybee”)
- bourdonner (“to buzz”)