girouette

French

girouette

Etymology

From Middle French gyrouete, from Old Northern French wirewite (“weathercock, weather vane”), borrowed from Old Norse veðrviti (“weather indicator, weather vane”), from veðr (“weather”), and viti (“indicator”). Also attributed to Norman wirewire (a variant of wirewite) at the origin of the dialectal term verguillon for girouette.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒi.ʁwɛt/

Noun

girouette f (plural girouettes)

1. Weathercock, weather vane.
2. (figuratively) A fickle person.

Further reading

• “girouette” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• gouttière