fléau

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French flaiel, flael, flayau, inherited from Latin flagellum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fle.o/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

fléau m (plural fléaux)

1. a flail, either tool or weapon
2. a scourge; a curse, a calamity or a plague
   • 2020 June 19, “Stopper la haine sur Internet”, in Le Monde‎^[1]:

     La haine en ligne est un fléau d’une immense ampleur.

     Online hatred is a scourge of immense scale.

3. (mechanics) the beam of a mechanical balance

Related terms

• flageller

Further reading

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