berceau

French

Etymology

From Old French berçuel (diminutive of bers) from Vulgar Latin berciolum diminutive of *bertium, from Gaulish *berta, from Proto-Celtic *bertā, variant of *bereti (“to carry”).

Compare Old Irish bert (“bundle”). Cognate with Catalan bressol, Portuguese berço and Galician berce.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛʁ.so/

• Audio (France (Paris)); “le berceau”:

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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• Rhymes: -o

Noun

berceau m (plural berceaux)

1. cradle, crib (bed for a baby)
2. (figuratively) cradle, birthplace, place of origin
3. (architecture) arch, vault

Derived terms

• au berceau

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: bèso
• → Dutch: berceau
• → Portuguese: berço
• → Swedish: berså

Further reading

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