boudoir
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French boudoir, from bouder (“to sulk”).
Pronunciation edit
- (General American) IPA(key): /buˈdwɑɹ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbuːdwɑː/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)
Noun edit
boudoir (plural boudoirs)
- A woman's private sitting room, dressing room, or bedroom.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 118:
- The Duchesse's boudoir was fitted up in a style of luxury utterly different from anything before familiar to the Carraras.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
- I found her in her boudoir getting outside a dish of tea and a crumpet.
Usage notes edit
Strictly refers only to a woman’s room, but sometimes used informally or humorously to refer to the vaginal canal.[1]
Coordinate terms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
woman's private room — see bower
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Raymond Chandler (1939) The Big Sleep, page 53: ““Tut, tut,” I said. “Come into my boudoir.””
French edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
boudoir m (plural boudoirs)
Descendants edit
- → Bulgarian: будоар (budoar)
- → English: boudoir
- → German: Boudoir
- → Greek: μπουντουάρ (bountouár)
- → Hungarian: budoár
- → Macedonian: будоар (budoar)
- → Polish: buduar
- → Romanian: budoar
- → Russian: будуа́р (buduár)
- → Georgian: ბუდუარი (buduari)
- → Serbo-Croatian: будоар
- → Swedish: budoar
- → Ukrainian: будуа́р (buduár)
Further reading edit
- “boudoir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.