pensionnaire

English

Alternative forms

• pensionaire (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle French pensionnaire, pensionaire.

Noun

pensionnaire (plural pensionnaires)

1. (obsolete) Someone receiving a pension. [17th–19th c.]
2. Someone who boards at a lodging-house, school, or other institution; a boarder, especially in France or other European countries. [from 18th c.]
   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

     [H]e found she had not taken the veil; but her mother being lately dead, had entered as a pensionaire, until her family-affairs could be adjusted.

3. A junior member of the Comédie Française. [from 19th c.]

French

Etymology

From pension +‎ -aire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɑ̃.sjɔ.nɛʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

pensionnaire m or f by sense (plural pensionnaires)

1. boarder; lodger
2. pensioner
3. boarder (someone in a boarding school)

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with pensionné.

Further reading

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