voiturette

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French voiturette, first used in 1895 by Léon Bollée to describe his new motor tricycle.

Noun

voiturette (plural voiturettes)

1. A small, compact car.
2. A lightweight vehicle with an engine of limited capacity.

Coordinate terms

• autocycle
• microcar
• motor quadricycle
• motor tricycle
• quadricycle
• tricycle

 

French

Etymology

From voiture +‎ -ette. Genericization of brand name "Voiturette". Coined by Léon Bollée in 1895 to name his new motor tricycle, «Voiturette».

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vwa.ty.ʁɛt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

voiturette f (plural voiturettes)

1. small car
2. toy car
3. voiturette

Coordinate terms

• micro-voiture
• microvoiture
• voiture sans permis
• voiture-oeuf
• voiture-œuf

 

Descendants

• English: voiturette

Further reading

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