boulevard

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbuː.ləˌvɑːd/ (UK); /ˈbʊ.lə.vɑɹd/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French boulevard,^[2][3][4][5] from Middle French bollevart “rampart”,^[3][6] a modification of Middle Dutch bolwerc (“bulwark”),^[3][4][2][5] which also gave English bulwark.^[3][2] Etymonline explains the garbling of the Dutch word by French having no w at the time.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A broad street or promenade planted with rows of trees, chiefly with reference to Paris (1769).^[7][2][5] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1768;^[4] Barnhart notes that it was introduced into English in Walpole's correspondence.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In French the word meant the walkway along a rampart, and then an avenue built where city walls had been razed;^[5][6][2] such promenades were wider than the old streets.^[2] In North America the word has since 1929 been used of multi-lane highways.^[7][2] Regionally it also names a strip of lawn between the sidewalk and the curb.^[6][1]

Timeline

• 1769 – a broad tree-lined street or promenade.^[7][2][5]
• 1838 – boulevard theatre.^[7]
• 1929 – (North America) a main highway or dual carriageway.^[7][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A broad city avenue, often landscaped with trees and grass at the sides or in the centre.
2. (regional US, Canada) A strip of lawn between a sidewalk and the curb, or the grassy strip down the middle of a road.

Related words

• boulevardier
• bulwark

References

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