boyau
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French boyau. Doublet of bowel.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
boyau (plural boyaus or boyaux)
- (military) A small trench or ditch, typically built in a zigzag pattern, serving to connect or provide communication between two trenches, particularly the rear and front lines.
- A line, drawn winding about, in order to enclose several tracts of land, or to attack some works.
Translations edit
References edit
- (military definition) Military Earthworks Terms, Historic Landscape Initiative, National Park Service. URL accessed 2007-01-29.
- (winding line definition) 1728, Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
Anagrams edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old French boïel, bouel, from Latin botellus.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
boyau m (plural boyaux)
- (anatomy) gut, intestine (of an animal, or, informally of a human)
- catgut, gut
- (military) communication trench, boyau
- hose, e.g. a firehose
Synonyms edit
- (gut): intestin
Descendants edit
- → English: boyau
See also edit
Further reading edit
- “boyau”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.