épagneul

French

Etymology

From Old French espagneul, espaigneul, Frenchified from Old Occitan espaignol (“Spanish”), from Vulgar Latin *Hispāniolus (“Spanish”), from Hispānia (“Spain”). First used as Espainholz in the 14th century by Gaston III of Foix, who described them in a book on hunting. An alternative theory derives it from the Old French verb espeignir (“lay down”), in reference to the behavior of the dogs when hunting game. However, it more likely means "from Spain", as Gaston brought them back from there. Compare also espagnol.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.pa.ɲœl/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Noun

épagneul m (plural épagneuls, feminine épagneule)

1. spaniel

Descendants

• → Italian: épagneul

Further reading

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

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Italian

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French

Noun

épagneul m (uncountable)

1. spaniel