commère

See also: commere and comméré

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French, borrowed (according to the TLF) from Late Latin commāter, from com- (“together”) + māter (“mother”). Cognate with Italian and Catalan comare, Neapolitan cummà, Sicilian cummari, Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish comadre, Norman conméthe, Romanian cumătră.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.mɛʁ/

• Audio

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Noun

commère f (plural commères)

1. (colloquial) gossipper, busybody

   Synonym: bavard

2. (obsolete) the godmother of one's child or the mother of one's godchild

   Synonym: marraine

   Coordinate term: compère

Derived terms

• commérer
  • commérage

Further reading

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