claque

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See also: Claque and claqué

English[edit]

WOTD – 11 August 2021

Etymology[edit]

Die Claque (The Claque, 1988) by Guido Messer. Installed in Schwetzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, it depicts a claque (sense 1).

From French claque (“group of people hired to applaud or boo, claque”, literally “a slap; a clap”), from claquer (“of hands: to clap”)[1] (paying audience members to applaud having started at the Paris Opera),[2] ultimately from Proto-Germanic *klakōną (“to clap; to clack; to chirp, tweet, twitter”), from Proto-Indo-European *glag- (“to make a noise; to chatter, chirp”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

claque (plural claques)

  1. (collective) A group of people hired to attend a performance and to either applaud or boo.
    • 1930 February 23, “Theatre claqueurs in Vienna form union; now get two Wienerwursts for simple applause, six with beer for special ovations”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, ISSN 0362-4331, OCLC 971436363, archived from the original on 28 July 2021, page 4, column 1:
      The most popular singers have been obliged to give free tickets and even to donate cash, lest the claque retaliate by frantic applause at the wrong moment.
    • 1957 December 22, John Briggs, “What every young claqueur should know”, in The New York Times‎[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, ISSN 0362-4331, OCLC 971436363, archived from the original on 28 July 2021, page 53, columns 4–7:
      The claque isn't paid. In fact, claqueurs pay to get in. The inducement is that they can buy standing room for half price, without waiting in line.
  2. (by extension)
    1. A group of fawning admirers.
    2. A group of people who pre-arrange among themselves to express strong support for an idea, so as to give the false impression of a wider consensus.

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

  • clique (another type of ingroup with biased interests)

References[edit]

  1. ^ “claque, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2021.
  2. ^ “claque, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From claquer.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

claque f (plural claques)

  1. slap on the cheek
    Synonyms: gifle, baffe, taloche
  2. vamp (of a shoe)
  3. (Quebec) overshoe
    Synonyms: shoe claque, chouclaque
  4. (sports) thrashing; thumping (heavy defeat)
  5. (collective) claque (group of people hired to either applaud or boo)

Noun[edit]

claque m (plural claques)

  1. (slang) gambling den
  2. (slang) whorehouse, brothel

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • → Catalan: claca
  • → English: claque
  • → German: Claque
  • → Italian: claque
  • → Portuguese: claque
  • → Spanish: claque

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French claque.

Noun[edit]

claque f (invariable)

  1. claque

Related terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • claque in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French claque.[1][2]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Hyphenation: cla‧que

Noun[edit]

claque f (plural claques)

  1. (Portugal, sports) supporters (people who support something, especially a sports team)
    Synonym: (Brazil) torcida

References[edit]

  1. ^ “claque” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2022.
  2. ^ “claque” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French claque.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈklake/, [ˈkla.ke]

Noun[edit]

claque f (plural claques)

  1. claque

Further reading[edit]

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