bougresse

French

Etymology

From bougre +‎ -esse (“-ess”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu.ɡʁɛs/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛs
• Homophone: bougresses

Noun

bougresse f (plural bougresses)

1. (derogatory) trout (an objectionable elderly woman)
   • 1963, Nicolas Bouvier, L'Usage du Monde, 2005 ed., Payot & Rivages, →ISBN, p. 163; translated 1992 by Robyn Marsack as The Way of the World, 2011 ed., Eland, →ISBN:

     C'était, à dix minutes de chez nous, un hammam tenu par une vieille bougresse fort propre qui fumait à travers son voile des cigarettes à bout doré.

     — Ten minutes away, it was a hammam kept by a very clean old trout who smoked gold-tipped cigarettes through her veil.

2. (Louisiana) young, unmarried woman known for having a 'wild side'
3. (Louisiana, colloquial) female equivalent of bougre: girl, dudette, lass (term of address)

Usage notes

• The sense "girl, dudette" may be a recent development.

Related terms

• bougre

Further reading

• “bougresse”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009; →ISBN; →ISBN)