French

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /e.kʁu/
  • Audio:(file)

Etymology 1

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Masculinized form from Middle French escroue, from Old French escroe, from Latin scrōfa, originally sow (female pig);[1] compare Occitan escrofa (screw nut), Sicilian scrufina (screw nut). The change in meaning is also found in Spanish puerca, Portuguese porca, both sow; screw nut, and is based on the fact that a boar's penis has a screw-like tip, making the sow's vulva equivalent to a screw nut by analogy.

Noun

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écrou m (plural écrous)

  1. nut (that fits on a bolt), female screw

Etymology 2

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Inherited from Middle French escrou (scrap, strip of parchment, scroll), from Old French escroe, from Old Dutch *skrōda (end, flap) (compare Middle Dutch scrōde), from Proto-Germanic *skrudaz, derivative of Proto-Germanic *skrudaną (compare Dutch schrooien (to shred)). Cognate with English escrow, scroll.

Noun

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écrou m (plural écrous)

  1. a prison register, prison admission form
Derived terms
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References

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  1. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edn., s.v. "screw".

Further reading

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Anagrams

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