couvée

French

Etymology

From Old French covée (“brood (of chickens), clutch”), a noun use of the feminine past participle of couver (“to brood (an egg)”), from Latin cubāre, the present active infinitive of cubō (“to lie down, recline; to incubate; to be broody”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (“to lie down”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku.ve/

• Audio

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Noun

couvée f (plural couvées)

1. clutch (a brood of chickens or a sitting of eggs)

   Coordinate term: portée (“litter”)

Participle

couvée f sg

1. feminine singular of couvé

Further reading

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