Wiktionary

noyau

English edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French noyau.

Noun edit

noyau (countable and uncountable, plural noyaus or noyaux)

  1. A French liqueur made at Poissy in north central France from brandy and flavoured with almonds and the pits of apricots. [from 18th c.]
    • 1792, James Boswell, in Danziger & Brady (eds.), Boswell: The Great Biographer (Journals 1789–1795), Yale 1989, p. 178:
      His coffee was excellent, and then came a case of liqueurs, noyau both white and red, etc.
  2. (ethology, countable) A small nucleus or core group of people or animals. [from 20th c.]
    • 1966 August 26, Richard Ardrey, “Strongest Bond of All - The Space We Own”, in LIFE, page 58:
      Borders are violated by hungering males and famished females, and the ordered animosities of the noyau give way to a saturnalia of sexual adventure.
    • 1999, Ronald M. Nowak, Walker's Primates of the World, JHU Press, →ISBN, page 27:
      The orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) also exhibits the noyau system and appears to be the only diurnal primate with a largely solitary lifestyle.
    • 2000, Sergio M. Pellis, Andrew N. Iwaniuk, “Adult-Adult Play in Primates: Comparative Analyses of Its Origin, Distribution and Evolution”, in Ethology, 106, page 1089:
      This "noyau" pattern is found among various nocturnal strepsirrhines.

References edit

French edit

Etymology edit

Backformed from Old French noyaus, plural of noyal, from Late Latin nucālis, from Latin nux.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /nwa.jo/
  • audio (CA)(file)
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -jo

Noun edit

noyau m (plural noyaux)

  1. stone (of a fruit), pit (of a fruit)
  2. group (of artists etc.); cell (of terrorists etc.)
  3. (geology) core
  4. (biology, physics) nucleus
  5. (computing) kernel
  6. (phonetics, phonology) nucleus of a syllable
    Antonyms: attaque, coda

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Further reading edit

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