pou

See also: Pou, póu, pòu, põu, pōu, pǒu, pɔu, po'u, and POU

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch pauw.

Noun

pou (plural poue, diminutive poutjie)

1. peacock

Derived terms

• gompou

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Amanab

Noun

pou

1. a kind of snake

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Catalan

Etymology

From a variant of Old Occitan [Term?] (compare Occitan potz), from Latin puteus (compare French puits, Spanish pozo). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *paw- (“to strike”). Attested from 1272.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈpow/
• Rhymes: -ɔw

Noun

pou m (plural pous)

1. well (a hole sunk into the ground as a source of water, oil, natural gas or other fluids)
2. (figuratively) well (a source of supply)
   • 2020 August 11, Mònica Planas Callol, “Secrets i prejudicis a l’americana [American-style secrets and prejudices]”, in Ara‎^[1]:

     La sèrie provoca una angoixa creixent en l’espectador per la tendència dels personatges a amagar les seves ferides en comptes de guarir-les, i això es converteix en un pou de malentesos i conflictes que es van acumulant.

     The show causes a growing anxiety in the viewer because of the characters' tendency to hide their wounds instead of healing them, and that becomes a well of misunderstandings and conflicts that build up over time.

Derived terms

• pouar

Further reading

• “pou” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “pou” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “pou” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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French

Etymology

From Old French pouil, peouil, püil, from Late Latin peduclus < peduculus, variant of Latin pēdīculus, from pēdis, from Proto-Indo-European *pezd-. The singular is a back-formation from the plural (see also genou with the same development).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pu/

• audio

  (file)

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

• Homophone: pouls

Noun

pou m (plural poux)

1. louse; head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis)

Usage notes

Only seven words in French ending in -ou have their plurals in -oux instead of -ous: bijou, caillou, chou, genou, hibou, joujou, pou.

Related terms

• pouilleux

See also

• lente f

Further reading

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

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Haitian Creole

Etymology 1

From French pour (“for”).

Preposition

pou

1. for
   • 2019 March 19, “Rankont ann Itali ant Anvwaye Espesyal Etazini ak Larisi sou Kriz Venezuela a”, in Lavwadlamerik‎^[2]:

     Anvwaye espesyal Etazini pou Venezuela, Elliot Abrams, ak vis-minis afè etranjè Larisi, Sergei Ryabkov, ap fè reyinyon nan vil Wòm ann Itali pou yo pale sou “sityasyon Venezuela kap agrave.”

     American Special Envoy for Venezuela Elliot Abrams and Russian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Ryabkov are meeting in the city of Rome, Italy to speak about "the worsening situation in Venezuela."

Etymology 2

From French pou (“louse”).

Noun

pou

1. louse

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Mandarin

Romanization

pou

1. Nonstandard spelling of pōu.
2. Nonstandard spelling of póu.
3. Nonstandard spelling of pǒu.
4. Nonstandard spelling of pòu.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

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Maori

Noun

pou

1. pillar

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Mauritian Creole

Alternative forms

• pu

Etymology

From French pour. Compare Haitian Creole pou.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pu/

Preposition

pou

1. for

Verb

pou (medial form pou)

1. (auxiliary) Used to indicate future tense.

Related terms

• ti pou

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French poi.

Adverb

pou

1. little (not much, not a lot)

Descendants

• French: peu

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Old French

Adverb

pou

1. Alternative form of poi

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Tulu-Bohuai

Noun

pou

1. pig

Further reading

• Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)