charbon

English

Etymology

From French charbon (“coal; anthrax”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɑː(ɹ)bən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)bən

Noun

charbon (countable and uncountable, plural charbons)

1. (countable) A small black spot or mark remaining in the cavity of the corner tooth of a horse after the large spot or mark has become obliterated.
2. (uncountable) A very contagious and fatal disease of sheep, horses, and cattle; anthrax.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “charbon”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French charbon, inherited from Latin carbōnem (“coal”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ker (“to burn”). Doublet of carbone.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃaʁ.bɔ̃/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

charbon m (plural charbons)

1. coal
2. anthrax
3. smut (range of fungi that cause crop disease); fungus of the genus Ustilago

Derived terms

• aller au charbon
• charbon actif
• charbon de bois
• charbonner
• charbonnerie
• charbonneux
• charbonnier
• charbonnière

 

See also

• houille

Further reading

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

Old French

Etymology

From Latin carbō, carbōnem (“coal”).

Noun

charbon oblique singular, m (oblique plural charbons, nominative singular charbons, nominative plural charbon)

1. coal

Descendants

• French: charbon
• Norman: tchèrbon, tcherbaon
• Walloon: tcherbon