va-et-vient

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French va-et-vient.

Noun

va-et-vient m (uncountable)

1. comings and goings, toing and froing

French

Etymology

From aller et venir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /va.e.vjɛ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

va-et-vient m (plural va-et-vient)

1. comings and goings, toing and froing

   le va-et-vient des touristes ― the comings and goings of tourists

2. (by extension) back and forth, in and out, up and down, to and fro

   Le balancier d’une pendule fait un mouvement de va-et-vient.

   The pendulum in a clock moves to and fro.

   Un oscillateur est un objet qui fait des mouvements de va-et-vient de manière plus ou moins longue et plus ou moins stable.

   An oscillator is an object which moves back and forth, either for a long or a short time, and in a stable or an unstable manner.

3. (electronics) two-way switch

Related terms

• allées et venues

Descendants

• → Dutch: va-et-vient

Further reading

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