Etymologically
Log in

boucanier

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 02:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bu.ka.nje/[1]

Forms

boucanier m (plural boucaniers)[1]

Etymology

It is from French boucan + -ier,[2][3][1] from boucan, the wooden grill on which the Indians of Brazil and the Caribbean smoked meat and fish.[4][5] Boucan was borrowed in 1578, in Jean de Léry's account of his voyage to Brazil, from Tupi mboka'ẽ (“wooden grill”);[4][1] Rey and Bloch and Wartburg explain the initial ⟨b⟩ by the frequent alternation of /p/, /m/ and /b/ at the start of Tupi and Guarani words.[4][5] The verb boucaner “to smoke meat on a boucan” is recorded from 1575.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1654 for the adventurers and backwoodsmen of Saint-Domingue who hunted wild cattle to smoke their meat on a boucan and trade their hides;[2][4][6] Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1667–71.[5]

Semantic evolution

By extension, and perhaps under the influence of an unrelated verb boucaner “to act like a billy goat”, the word was applied to the pirates who raided the coasts of America and the West Indies in the 17th century, and to their ships;[4] the GLLF puts this down to confusion with the flibustiers, who ruled the same seas at the time.[7] Larousse notes that the buccaneers allied with the freebooters in the second half of the 17th century and at first served France and England against Spain.[8] The word also named the long, heavy gun these hunters used: un fusil boucannier appears in a Quebec inventory of 1682.[9][8] In literary use it can mean any reckless adventurer, as in Hugo.[7]

English took the word as English buccaneer: first in the 1660s for one who roasts meat on a boucan, then in the 1680s for a pirate.[10]

Timeline

  • 1575 – The verb boucaner “to smoke meat” is recorded.[4]
  • 1578 – Jean de Léry describes the boucan, the smoking grill.[4][5]
  • 1654 – First record of boucanier.[2][4]
  • 1660s – English buccaneer “one who roasts meat on a boucan”.[10]
  • 1680s – English buccaneer “pirate”.[10]
  • 1682 – A fusil boucannier is listed in a Quebec inventory.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (historical) An adventurer of the West Indies who hunted wild cattle to smoke the meat and trade the hides.[6][8]
  2. (by extension) A pirate of the American seas in the 17th century; a buccaneer.[3][7]
  3. (figurative, literary) A reckless adventurer.[7]
  4. (historical) The long, heavy musket used by these hunters.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com