soigneur

English

WOTD – 26 July 2022

Etymology

Spanish professional cyclist Javier Cherro Molina acting as a domestique during the 2007 Euskal Bizikleta, collecting bidons from soigneurs in the team car.

Borrowed from French soigneur (“non-riding member of a cycling team; physiotherapist; trainer”), from soigner (“to look after, take care of; to nurse, treat”) + -eur (suffix forming masculine nouns from verbs). Soigner is derived from soin (“care”, noun) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sunjō, *sunþijō (“care, responsibility; sooth, truth”), from *sunjaz (“real, true”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁sónts, the active participle of *h₁ésti (“to be”), from *h₁es- (“to be”)) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs). Doublet of soigné.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /swʌnˈjɜː/, /swɑː-/, /swæ-/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /swʌnˈjɝ/, /swɑ-/, /swæ-/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: soign‧eur

Noun

soigneur (plural soigneurs)

1. (cycle racing) A non-riding member of a racing team whose role is to provide support (such as massages, supplies, and transportation) for the cyclists.

Related terms

• soigné, soigne

Translations

non-riding member of a racing team whose role is to provide support for the cyclists

• Catalan: assistent (ca) m, assistenta (ca) f
• Dutch: soigneur (nl) m, soigneuse (nl) f
• Finnish: soigneur, avustaja (fi)
• French: soigneur (fr) m, soigneuse (fr) f
• German: Betreuer (de) m
• Russian: соньёр m (sonʹjór)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• cycling team on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• glossary of cycling on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French soigneur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swa.ɲœ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

soigneur m (plural [please provide], diminutive [please provide], feminine soigneuse)

1. (sports) A non-competing member of a sports team whose role is to provide support (such as psychological and medical care as well as supplies) for the athletes.

French

Etymology

From soigner (“to look after, take care of; to nurse, treat”) +‎ -eur (suffix forming masculine nouns from verbs). Soigner is derived from soin (“care”, noun) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sunjō, *sunþijō (“care, responsibility; sooth, truth”), from *sunjaz (“real, true”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁sónts, the active participle of *h₁ésti (“to be”), from *h₁es- (“to be”)) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swa.ɲœʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

soigneur m (plural soigneurs, feminine soigneuse)

1. (cycle racing) soigneur
2. (rugby, soccer) physiotherapist, trainer

Further reading

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