rossignol

See also: Rossignol

French

Etymology

From Old Occitan rossinhol (cf. Catalan rossinyol), from Vulgar Latin *lusciniolus, masculine diminutive of Latin luscinia (“nightingale”). According to de Vaan, "might be explained with haplology from *lusci-cania (“'singing in the night', 'blind singer'”)", but this is conjecture.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɔ.si.ɲɔl/

• Audio

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Noun

rossignol m (plural rossignols)

1. nightingale
2. picklock, skeleton key

   Synonym: passe-partout

3. (colloquial) piece of junk
   • 1883, Émile Zola, chapter 2, in Au Bonheur des Dames:

     Ce dernier, ayant remarqué que les marchandises démodées, les rossignols, s’enlevaient d’autant plus rapidement que la guelte donnée aux commis était plus forte, avait basé sur cette observation un nouveau commerce.

     He, having noticed that the outdated merchandise, the junk, shifted more quickly the higher the commission that the shop assistants were given, had based a new business on this observation.

Derived terms

• rossignole (“female nightingale”)
• rossignoler (“to sing like a nightingale”)
• rossignolet (“young nightingale”)

Further reading

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