Etymologically
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boulevard

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 06:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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.

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