ébauche

See also: ebauche and ébauché

English

Noun

ébauche (plural ébauches)

1. A sketch.
2. A maquette.
3. The plates and bridges of an unfinished watch.

French

Etymology

From early modern French esbauche (“the first form of a work of art, a proto-type”), deverbal of Middle French esbaucher (“to rough-hew, frame”), alteration (due to Middle French bauche (“beam, wooden crosspiece”)) of Old French esbosquier, esboskier (“to rough-hew beams”), from es- (“out”) + bosc (“wood, firewood”), from Frankish *busk (“wood, firewood”), from Proto-Germanic *buskaz (“wood, thicket”). Cognate with Old French esbochier (“to prune grapes”), French bois (“wood”), bau (“crossbeam”). More at bush, balk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.boʃ/

• Audio

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Noun

ébauche f (plural ébauches)

1. draft (early version of a written work)

Verb

ébauche

1. inflection of ébaucher:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “ébauche”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.