clochard
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French clochard.
Noun
clochard (plural clochards)
- A beggar or tramp, especially in France.
- 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 492:
- He nearly fell over the Pont Neuf, enjoyed the conversation and esteem of several hairy clochards, and was finally knocked down by a taxi in the Place Vendôme […]
- 2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 92:
- ‘Those clochards in Cannes, mostly old soixante-huitards. They see a tribute to modern industrial genius and can't resist giving it a swift kick.’
Dutch
Alternative forms
- klosjaar
Etymology
Borrowed from French clochard.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /klɔˈʃaːr/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: clo‧chard
Noun
clochard m (plural clochards, diminutive clochardje n)
French
Etymology
Disputed. One possible etymology is clocher (“to limp”) + -ard, another one is from cloche (“clumsy person, oaf”)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /klɔ.ʃaʁ/
Audio: (file)
Noun
clochard m (plural clochards, feminine clocharde)
- (now usually derogatory) tramp; vagrant
- Synonym: clodo
- 1993, Patrick Gaboriau, Clochard. L'univers d'un groupe de sans-abri parisiens:
- La vie quotidienne des clochards est mal connue.
- The everyday life of vagrants is poorly known.
Descendants
- → Dutch: clochard
- → English: clochard
- → Italian: clochard
- → Slovene: klošar
- → Serbo-Croatian: klošar
- → Polish: kloszard
- → Macedonian: клошар (klošar)
- → Russian: клошар (klošar)
Further reading
- “clochard”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French clochard.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /klo(ʃ)ˈʃard/
- Rhymes: -ard
- Hyphenation: clo‧chàrd
Noun
clochard m or f by sense (invariable)
- (now non derogatory) tramp, vagrant, homeless
- Synonyms: (derogatory) barbone, senzatetto
Further reading
- clochard in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana