cheval
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French cheval. See cavalcade. Doublet of caple.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʃɛˈvɑl/
- Rhymes: -ɑl
Noun
cheval (plural chevaux)
- (obsolete) Only in compounds : a horse; hence, a support or frame.
Derived terms
- cheval glass
- A long mirror.
- 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXIX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 1000392275, page 192:
- "Very well, indeed, exceeding well, for un peu passée, the mother of five young women. 'Tis as well they are not here, perhaps," said Lady Anne, as she examined herself from side to side, in the longest cheval the hotel afforded.
-
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for cheval in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)
Anagrams
- chavel
Franco-Provençal
Etymology
From Late Latin caballus (“horse”), from Latin caballus (“pack horse”), of Gaulish origin.
Noun
cheval m (plural chevôx, feminine cavala)
- horse
French
Etymology
From Middle French cheval, from Old French cheval, from Late Latin caballus (“horse”), from Latin caballus (“pack horse”), of disputed origin.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʃə.val/
audio (file)
Noun
cheval m (plural chevaux, feminine jument)
- horse
- horsepower
- (slang) tall and slim woman, beautiful woman (only in the feminine form, jument)
- (slang) horse, H (narcotic)
Hypernyms
- équidé
Derived terms
- à cheval
- à cheval donné on ne regarde pas la bride
- à cheval donné on ne regarde pas les dents
- antilope cheval
- changer de cheval au milieu du gué
- cheval à bascule
- cheval d'arçons
- cheval de bât
- cheval de bataille
- cheval de course
- cheval de frise
- cheval de main
- cheval de Przewalski
- cheval de trait
- cheval de Troie
- cheval du diable
- chevalet
- cheval-jupon
- cheval qui boit dans son blanc
- cheval-vapeur
- de cheval
- dose de cheval
- fer à cheval
- fièvre de cheval
- il n'est si bon cheval qui ne bronche
- miser sur le mauvais cheval
- monter sur ses grands chevaux
- ne pas se trouver sous le sabot d'un cheval
- ne pas se trouver sous les sabots d'un cheval
- queue-de-cheval
- remède de cheval
- saut de cheval
Related terms
- cavalier
- cavalerie
- chevaleresque
- chevalin
- chevalier
- chevaucher
Descendants
- Antillean Creole: chouval
- Canadian French: joual
- Michif: zhwal
- Guianese Creole: chouval
- Haitian Creole: chwal
- → Malagasy: soavaly
- → English: cheval
- → Esperanto: ĉevalo
- → Garifuna: xuval
See also
- équin
- équitation
Further reading
- “cheval”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French cheval.
Noun
cheval m (plural chevaux or chevaulx)
- horse
Related terms
- chevalier
Descendants
- French: cheval
- Antillean Creole: chouval
- Canadian French: joual
- Michif: zhwal
- Guianese Creole: chouval
- Haitian Creole: chwal
- → Malagasy: soavaly
- → English: cheval
- → Esperanto: ĉevalo
- → Garifuna: xuval
Old French
Alternative forms
- keval, kevel (northern)
Etymology
From Late Latin caballus (“horse”), from Latin caballus (“pack horse”), of Gaulish origin.
Noun
cheval m (oblique plural chevaus or chevax or chevals, nominative singular chevaus or chevax or chevals, nominative plural cheval)
- horse
- circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
- EREC de son cheval desçant[.]
- -Erec got down from his horse.
- circa 1170, Wace, Le Roman de Rou:
- Maint bon cheval i unt tué
- They killed many good horses
Related terms
- chevalier
Descendants
- Bourguignon: chevau, ch'vau, g'vau, z'vau
- Champenois: cheveau, tchevau
- Middle French: cheval (see there for further descendants)
- Lorrain: tchevâ
- Norman: queval
- Picard: cval, cvau
- Tourangeau: chevau, jevau, chouau, chĕau
- Walloon: tchivå, tchvå
- → Gascon: chivau