girouette
French edit
Etymology edit
From Middle French gyrouete, from Old Northern French wirewite (“weathercock, weather vane”), borrowed from Old Norse veðrviti (“weather indicator, weather vane”), from veðr (“weather”), and viti (“indicator”). Also attributed to Norman wirewire (a variant of wirewite) at the origin of the dialectal term verguillon for girouette.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
girouette f (plural girouettes)
- weathercock, weather vane
- (figurative) a fickle person
Descendants edit
- → Romanian: giruetă
Further reading edit
- “girouette”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.