bon ton

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French bon ton (literally “good tone”).

Noun

bon ton (uncountable)

1. (dated) The height of fashion; fashionable society.
   • 1839, The Quarterly Review‎^[1], volume 64, page 555:

     This part of the proposition is very popular, particularly with the higher and middle classes, because it is the fashion, and a mark of bon ton, to enclose one's letter in an envelope, even though, or perhaps because, it subjects it to double postage.

Related terms

• ton

References

• “bon ton”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French bon ton (literally “good tone”).

Noun

bon ton m (invariable)

1. sophistication, fashionability
   • 2007, Laila Waida., Amiche per la pelle:

     Lula è la nostra maestra di bonton; cerca di renderci più sofisticate.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French bon ton.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔw̃ ˈtɔw̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

bon ton m inan

1. (literary) savoir-vivre

   Synonym: savoir-vivre

Declension

Declension of bon ton

	singular
nominative	bon ton
genitive	bon tonu
dative	bon tonowi
accusative	bon ton
instrumental	bon tonem
locative	bon tonie
vocative	bon tonie

or

Indeclinable.

Further reading

• bon ton in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• bon ton in Polish dictionaries at PWN