huissier
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French huissier. Doublet of usher and possibly ostiary.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈwiːsjeɪ/
Noun
huissier (plural huissiers)
- (archaic) A doorman in France.
- 1982 February 15, William Safire, “ESSAY; FRANCE'S IDEA MAN”, in The New York Times[1]:
- That is because the huissier cannot lead anyone in to see the President of France without first passing through the adjacent office of Jacques Attali.
- 1999 February 23, Joan Dupont, “From Out of Purgatory, a French Musical Hit”, in The New York Times[2]:
- A chorus of five huissiers, or ushers, line up in a row, like sleek crows cawing out comments on the machinations of their masters.
- (historical) A huissier de justice, an officer of the court in various European countries roughly similar to a British bailiff.
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French ussier, from uis (“door”) + -ier (suffix denoting occupation), or inherited from Latin ostiārius. Doublet of ostiaire.
Pronunciation
- (mute h) IPA(key): /ɥi.sje/
Noun
huissier m (plural huissiers, feminine huissière)
- an usher, particularly:
Related terms
Descendants
Further reading
- “huissier”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.