clapier

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French clapier (“brothel”), from Old Occitan clapier (“rabbit hutch”), from clap (“heap of stones”), from Medieval Latin claperius, possibly of Pre-Roman or Celtic origin, from Proto-Celtic *klappo, *klapf-, considered to either be from a Pre-Indo-European substrate or instead derived from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to cleave, split”).

Compare Occitan clapàs, Catalan claper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kla.pje/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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Noun

clapier m (plural clapiers)

1. rabbit hutch
2. an overcrowded, unhealthy dwelling, dump
3. scree

   Synonym: pierrier

Further reading

• “clapier”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• “clap”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.