cabochon

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French cabochon, diminutive form of caboche (“head”), from Old French caboce, from Latin caput (“head”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkæbəˈʃɒn/

Noun

cabochon (plural cabochons)

1. (chiefly attributive) A precious stone which has only been polished, not cut into facets.
   • 1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter VIII, in The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun; 1), New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 81:

     Thecla was […] stroking a bracelet formed like a kraken, a kraken whose tentacles wrapped the white flesh of her arm; its eyes were cabochon emeralds.

Related terms

• cabbage
• en cabochon

Translations

polished stone

• German: Cabochon m
• Russian: кабошо́н (ru) m (kabošón)

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

cabochon (plural cabochons or cabochonne)

1. Alternative form of kabosjon

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French cabochon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkaː.boːˈʃɔn/
• Hyphenation: ca‧bo‧chon
• Rhymes: -ɔn

Noun

cabochon m (plural cabochons)

1. cabochon

French

Etymology

From caboche +‎ -on, literally “small head”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.bɔ.ʃɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ca‧bo‧chon

Noun

cabochon m (plural cabochons)

1. cabochon
2. (Typography) cul-de-lampe
3. Small nail with an ornamental head, especially used in furniture
4. (Quebec) head
5. (Quebec, slang) silly, unintelligent, clumsy

Further reading

• “cabochon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.