dégât

See also: degat and degāt

French

Etymology

Deverbative from Old French deguaster, inherited from Latin dēvastāre (which was borrowed as dévaster). See also gâter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.ɡa/ ~ /de.ɡɑ/

• Audio (France, Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (CAN):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ
• Homophone: dégâts

Noun

dégât m (plural dégâts)

1. damage
   • 2020 June 19, “Stopper la haine sur Internet”, in Le Monde‎^[1]:

     Mais ces jugements, rendus longtemps après l’infraction, ne règlent pas la question des dégâts causés en temps réel par les messages haineux sur la Toile.

     But these judgments, handed down long after the offense, do not solve the problem of the damage caused in real time by hate messages on the Web.

Usage notes

In French, the plural is often used where in English the singular would be preferred.

Derived terms

• bonjour les dégâts
• dégât collatéral
• dégât des eaux

Further reading

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