phoque

French

Un phoque. ― A seal.

Etymology

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek φώκη (phṓkē)bor.?

Latin phōcabor.

Middle French phoque

French phoque

Inherited from Middle French phoque f, focque m, borrowed from Latin phōca, from Ancient Greek φώκη (phṓkē).

Cognate with Italian foca f and Spanish foca f.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: foc, focs, phoques
• Rhymes: -ɔk

Noun

phoque m (plural phoques)

1. seal

   Synonyms: loup de mer m, loup marin m

   • 1924, Emmanuel Bove, “Neveu, le marinier”, in Mes amis [My Friends]‎^[1], Paris: Émile-Paul Frères:

     Des reflets s’enfonçaient à pic dans la Seine. La surface du fleuve remuait comme s’il y avait des phoques sous l’eau.

     Reflections dive steeply into the Seine. The surface of the river moves as if there were seals under the water.

2. sealskin (fabric made from fur of seals)

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

• ouate de phoque
• phoque barbu

Descendants

• → Polish: foka f
• → Romanian: focă f
• → Turkish: fok

See also

• morse (“walrus”)
• otarie (“sea lion”)

Further reading

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

Middle French

Alternative forms

• focque

Etymology

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek φώκη (phṓkē)bor.?

Latin phōcabor.

Middle French phoque

First attested in 1532. Borrowed from Latin phoca f.

Noun

phoque m or f (plural phoques)

1. seal

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Descendants

• French: phoque m
  • → Polish: foka f
  • → Romanian: focă f
  • → Turkish: fok

Further reading

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