Etymologically
Log in

bivouac

Etymology and origin of the English word bivouac

History Permalink
Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
French bivouac

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈbɪv.u.æk/, /ˈbɪv.wæk/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French bivouac,[2][3][4][5][6] said to be a word from the Thirty Years' War.[4] Random House and Etymonline trace it to Swiss German biwacht “auxiliary patrol, night guard”,[6][4] while Barnhart and Merriam-Webster give Low German biwacht or biwake;[3][5] the American Heritage Dictionary calls it German dialect beiwacht “supplementary night watch”.[2] The word is formed from bi- “by, beside”[2][3][4][5] and wacht “watch, guard”,[2][4][5][6] and is related to watch and wake.[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A night watch kept by a whole army under arms against surprise attack (1702 in Barnhart and Etymonline, 1706 in the OED).[3][4][7]

Semantic evolution

According to the OED, quoted by Etymonline, the word was not common in English before the Napoleonic Wars.[4] The verb appears in 1809, meaning to post troops or remain in the open air at night,[3][4][7] and by 1814 it meant simply to camp out of doors without tents.[3][4][7] The noun followed, coming to mean an encampment for the night in the open air (1853)[7][3][4] and then any temporary encampment or shelter.[5][1]

Timeline

  • 1702 – a night watch by an army (Barnhart, Etymonline).[3][4]
  • 1809 – verb, to post troops or stay in the open at night.[3][4][7]
  • 1814 – verb, to camp out of doors without tents.[3][4][7]
  • 1853 – an encampment for the night in the open air.[7][3][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A temporary encampment, often in an unsheltered area, especially one made by soldiers.
  2. A temporary or makeshift shelter or lodging.

Verb

  1. To camp in the open, with little or no shelter.
  2. To provide temporary quarters for, as in bivouacked in the gym.
  • watch
  • wake
  • bivvy

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Bivouac.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/bivouac. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·