pigache

English

William Rufus in pigaches in a 1915 illustration of the life of St Anselm

Etymology

From French pigache (“kind of hoe, kind of hoofprint, kind of shoe”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɪˈɡɒʃ/, /pɪˈɡæʃ/, /piːˈɡɑʃ/

Noun

pigache (plural pigaches)

1. (historical) A shoe with a long pointed toe worn in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries.
   • 2009, Madeleine Pelner Cosman, Linda Gale Jones, Handbook to Life in the Medieval World, 3-Volume Set, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 870:

     pigaches—fashionable 11th- and 12th-century shoes with long, upturned, pointed toes...

   • 2013, T. H. Lain, The Death Ray, Wizards of the Coast, →ISBN:

     He sat on a cushioned bench and slipped his feet into a pair of gaudy but fashionable pigaches. The long, upturned, pointed shoes were of a matching set with the bliaut.

2. (historical, inexact) Synonym of poulaine (“any style of long-toed medieval shoe”).
   • 2010 September 14, Nina Ansley, The Plague of Provence, →ISBN, page 294:

     His new appearance extended down to his pigache boots—with toes pointed too long for common sense. Tristan, being a genial sort who had long ago learned the benefits ofkeeping his honest thoughts to himself, merely nodded.

   • 2016, Karen Bowman, Corsets and Codpieces..., Simon & Schuster, →ISBN:

     As if not to be outdone by the fair sex, as ladies headwear ranged ever higher, so too men's footwear became ever longer... by 1450 the shoes were known as pikes or pigaches after a kind of pail with a long handle.

3. (historical) An elongated pointed sleeve in some medieval gowns.
   • 2003, James Robinson Planché, An Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Costume..., Courier Corporation (→ISBN), p. 465:

     A pointed sleeve, called pigache, as the pointed shoes of the twelfth century had been, was worn by ladies towards the end of his reign.

Synonyms

• (11th–13th cent. footwear): pigage

Translations

11th–13th cent. footwear

• French: pigache (fr) f
• Latin: pigacia f, pigatia f

French

Alternative forms

• pigace

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pi.ɡaʃ/

Noun

pigache f (plural pigaches)

1. (historical) a kind of rudimentary hoe
2. (hunting) hoofprint of a wild boar longer on one side than the other
   • 1978, Henri Vincenot, La Billebaude, page 47:

     C’est un pigache, mossieu le Comte: la pince de droite est plus longue que l’autre, et recourbée!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (historical) pigache, style of medieval shoe with an elongated toe

Descendants

• → English: pigache
• Latin: pigacia, pigatia