bougre

French

Etymology

From Old French bogre (“heretic”) (1172), also bogresse (“person who indulges in unnatural debauchery”) (1260), from Late Latin Bulgarus (“Bulgarian”), from Old Church Slavonic блъгаринъ (blŭgarinŭ). Doublet of bulgare and boug.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buɡʁ/
• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): [buɡ], [bʊɡ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

bougre m (plural bougres)

1. (colloquial, Louisiana) chap, guy

   Synonyms: gars, mec

2. wretch (miserable, luckless person)
3. imbecile; idiot (general pejorative)
   • 2015 June, Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex, volume 2, Éditions Grasset, →ISBN:

     Français, freluquet, beaux yeux, une dégaine de pédé de rocker, cheveux longs… il ne ressemble à grand-chose, en fait, mais ce n’est pas le mauvais bougre.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. (dated) sodomite, bugger, homosexual
5. (invariable, followed by 'de') bloody (intensifier)

Derived terms

• bougrement
• bougresse
• bougrerie

Descendants

• → English: bugger
• Karipúna Creole French: bug
• Portuguese: bugre

Further reading

• “bougre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009; →ISBN; →ISBN)

Anagrams

• bouger