bon vivant

See also: Bonvivant and bon-vivant

English

Alternative forms

• bon-vivant

Etymology

Borrowed from French bon vivant (literally “one who lives well, good ‘liver’ (living person)”), from bon (“good”) + vivant (“person who is living”), agent noun of vivre (“to live”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌbɑn vɪvˈɑnt/, /ˌbɑn viˈvɑnt/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌbɒ̃ viːˈvɒ̃/
• Rhymes: -ɒnt

Noun

bon vivant (plural bon vivants or bons vivants)

1. A man who enjoys luxurious things in life, especially good food and drink; a man about town.

Synonyms

• bon viveur
• hedonist

Related terms

• joie de vivre
• bonne vivante (feminine form)

Translations

person who enjoys the good things in life, especially good food and drink

• Catalan: vividor (ca) m, vividora f, panxacontent (ca) m, panxacontenta (ca) f
• Czech: požitkář (cs) m, bonviván (cs) m
• Danish: levemand c, livsnyder c
• Dutch: levensgenieter (nl) m, bon-vivant m, pallieter (nl) m, pretmaker (nl) m
• Esperanto: bonvivanto (eo)
• Estonian: elunautija
• Finnish: elämännautiskelija, elostelija (fi)
• French: bon vivant (fr) m, bonne vivante (fr) f
• German: Bonvivant (de) m, Lebemann (de) m, Genussmensch (de) m
• Greek: φιλήδονος (el) m (filídonos), καλοζωιστής (el) m (kalozoïstís), μπον βιβέρ (el) m (bon vivér)
• Hungarian: bonviván (hu)
• Ido: bon-vivero
• Italian: gaudente (it) m or f, viveur (it) m, viveuse f
• Kannada: ಭೋಜನಪ್ರಿಯ (kn) (bhōjanapriya), ಸುಭೋಜ್ಯಪ್ರಿಯ (kn) (subhōjyapriya), ಭೋಜನ ರಸಿಕ (kn) (bhōjana rasika), ಪಾಕಪ್ರಿಯ (kn) (pākapriya)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: xoşxwara

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: livsnyter (no) m, levemann m

• Polish: bon vivant (pl) m
• Portuguese: boêmio (pt) m
• Russian: жуи́р (ru) m (žuír), бонвива́н (ru) m (bonviván)
• Spanish: vividor (es) m, vividora (es) f
• Swedish: goddagsplit c, livsnjutare (sv) c, vivör (sv) c, lebeman (sv) c, festprisse (sv) c

See also

• boulevardier
• dandy
• man about town

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔ̃ vi.vɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

bon vivant m (plural bons vivants, feminine bonne vivante)

1. a bon vivant, who enjoys the good things in life

   Synonym: (obsolete) bon viveur

   Antonym: mal-vivant

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French bon vivant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔw̃ viˈvã/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

bon vivant m pers

1. (literary) bon vivant

   Synonym: bon viveur

Declension

Declension of bon vivant

	singular	plural
nominative	bon vivant	bon vivanci/bon vivanty (deprecative)
genitive	bon vivanta	bon vivantów
dative	bon vivantowi	bon vivantom
accusative	bon vivanta	bon vivantów
instrumental	bon vivantem	bon vivantami
locative	bon vivancie	bon vivantach
vocative	bon vivancie	bon vivanci

Further reading

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