boudoir French · revision 16123

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1730, Du Cerceau}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bu.dwaʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''boudoir''' ''m'' (plural boudoirs)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|bouder|-oir]], a jocular formation: properly “a room to sulk in”, where the lady of the house could withdraw to be alone.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873) ''Bouder'' “to sulk” (14th century) is an expressive popular word, named from the pout one makes when sulking.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first recorded before 1730, in Du Cerceau, for a small, elegant room where the mistress of the house retired to be alone or to talk with close friends.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992) The Académie labelled it familiar in its editions of 1740 and 1798.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 18th century the boudoir became a place of love affairs, as in Sade's ''La Philosophie dans le boudoir''; hence ''succès de boudoir'' and ''diplomatie de boudoir'', a policy inspired by women.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) In the 19th century it was also given to a sponge finger, a use that is not well explained: Rey suggests an allusion to the elegant little room, or to the rounded shape of the lips or of the biscuit; the Petit Robert dates it to 1929.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ English took the word in 1777.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1730 – First record, in Du Cerceau.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1740 – The Académie records it as a familiar word.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1777 – English borrows the word.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1929 – Recorded for a sugared sponge finger.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A lady's small, elegant private sitting room, a [[m|en|boudoir]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # An oblong [[m|en|sponge finger]] covered with sugar.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bouder]]

+ * [[bouderie]]

+ * [[boudeur]]

+ * [[en|boudoir]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}