French drain

English

Diagram of a French drain

Etymology

Perhaps after Henry French of Concord, MA

Noun

French drain (plural French drains)

1. A shallow trench, sometimes lined with tile or containing a perforated pipe, backfilled with gravel and then covered over, used to collect and channel runoff water.
2. A gravel-filled corridor with a perforated pipe running through it that runs against the foundation footings of a building, used to collect ground water and drain it away from the building's interior.

Synonyms

• (foundation drainage): weeping tile, foundation drain, rubble drain

Translations

foundation drainage

• French: drain français, drain de fondation

References

French, Henry F., Farm Drainage: The Principles, Processes, and Effects of Draining Land with Stones, Wood, Plows, and Open Ditches and Especially with Tiles, Including Tables of Rain-Fall, Evaporation, Filtration, Excavation, Capacity of Pipes; Cost and Number to the Acre of Tiles, Etc, Etc., New York, A.O. Moore & Co., 1859.

Further reading

• https://web.archive.org/web/20060906125211/http://www.concordma.com/magazine/janfeb00/frenchdrains.html – article speculating about Henry French origin