phoque

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin phōca, from Ancient Greek φώκη (phṓkē). Compare Italian foca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: foc, focs, phoques
• Rhymes: -ɔk

Un phoque.

Noun

phoque m (plural phoques)

1. seal (pinniped)

   Synonyms: loup de mer, loup marin

   • 1924, Emmanuel Bove, Mes Amis‎^[1], archived from the original on 27 May 2019:

     Des reflets s’enfonçaient à pic dans la Seine. La surface du fleuve remuait comme s’il y avait des phoques sous l’eau.

     Reflections dive steeply into the Seine. The surface of the river moves as if there were seals under the water.

2. sealskin (fabric made from fur of seals)

Derived terms

• ouate de phoque
• phoque barbu

Descendants

• → Polish: foka
• → Romanian: focă
• → Turkish: fok

See also

• morse m
• otarie f

Further reading

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