ballon d'essai
English
editEtymology
editBorrowed from French ballon d’essai.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editballon d'essai (plural ballons d'essai)
- A policy put forward to test reactions; something designed to test the waters, an experimental measure. [from 19th c.]
- 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 193:
- James II may even have planned the reintroduction of the ceremony, for in his reign the old order of service was resurrected and issued in print, as a ballon d'essai, though the Revolution prevented matters being taken any further.
French
editPronunciation
editNoun
editballon d’essai m (plural ballons d’essai)
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