guêpe

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French guespe, from Old French guespe, wespe, wapce (“hornet, wasp”), from a conflation of Latin vespa (“wasp”), and Frankish *wespa, *wapsa (“wasp”), from Proto-Germanic *wapsō (“wasp”); both from Proto-Indo-European *wops-éh₂, from *wóps (“wasp”).

Cognate with Spanish avispa (“wasp”), Portuguese vespa (“wasp”), Italian vespa (“wasp”), Romanian viespe (“wasp”), Old High German wefsa (“wasp”), Old Saxon waspa, wespia (“wasp”), Old English wæsp, wæps (“wasp”), (whence English wasp). More at wasp.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛp/

  • Audio (France):

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛːp/ (older, now chiefly Belgium, Canada)
  • (Quebec) IPA^(key): [ɡaɛ̯p]

    • Audio (Quebec):

      (file)

    • Audio (Canada):

      (file)

• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɛp/

Noun

guêpe f (plural guêpes)

1. wasp

Derived terms

• guêpe solitaire
• guêpier
• guêpière
• taille de guêpe

See also

• abeille f
• frelon m

Further reading

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