garçon

See also: garcon, Garcon, and Garçon

English

Alternative forms

• garcon

Etymology

From French garçon (1788), from Old French garçun (“servant”), oblique case of gars, from Medieval Latin garciō, from Frankish *wrakjō (“servant, boy”), from Proto-Germanic *wrakjô (“exile, driven one”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“to drive”). Cognate with Old High German wrecheo, recko (“exile, warrior, hero”) (Modern German Recke), Old Saxon wrekkio (“a banished person, exile, stranger”), Old English wreċċa (“a wretch, stranger, exile”), and perhaps to Old Norse rekkr (“man, warrior, hero”). More at wretch, wreak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɑː(ɹ)ˈsɒn/, /ɡɑː(ɹ)ˈsɒ̃/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

garçon (plural garçons)

1. A male waiter (especially at a French restaurant).

Translations

a male waiter (in a French context) — See also translations at waiter

• Dutch: garçon (nl) m
• French: garçon (fr) m
• Georgian: გარსონი (garsoni), ოფიციანტი (opicianṭi)
• German: Garçon (de) m
• Russian: гарсо́н (ru) m (garsón)

References

• Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition (1997)

Anagrams

• Corgan, cargon

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French garçon.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

garçon m (plural garçons, diminutive garçontje n)

1. waiter in a bar, restaurant etc.

   Synonyms: kelner, ober

Franco-Provençal

Noun

garçon m

1. boy

   Coordinate term: filye

Further reading

• garçon in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French garçon (“servant, boy”), from Medieval Latin garciōnem, from Frankish *wrakjō (“servant, boy”), from Proto-Germanic *wrakjô (“exile, driven one”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaʁ.sɔ̃/

• audio (un garçon)

  (file)

Noun

garçon m (plural garçons)

1. boy

   Il a deux garçons et une fille.

   He has two boys and a girl.

   Synonym: gamin

2. (by extension) young man; man

   Synonym: homme

3. Generic name of a male employee in some industries

   Hypernym: employé

   Hyponyms: garçon de café, garçon de ferme, garçon de salle

4. Short for garçon de café.

   Garçon, l'addition s'il vous plaît. ― Waiter, the bill please.

Derived terms

• enterrement de vie de garçon
• garçon de cabine
• garçon de café
• garçon de caisse
• garçon de cuisine
• garçon de ferme
• garçon de restaurant
• garçon de salle
• garçon de service
• garçon d'étage
• garçon d'honneur
• garçon d'hôtel
• garçon manqué
• garçonnet
• garçonnière
• mauvais garçon

 

Descendants

• → Dutch: garçon
• → English: garçon, garcon
• → Greek: γκαρσόνι (gkarsóni)
• → Haitian Creole: gason
• → Italian: garzone
• → Persian: گارسون‎
• → Portuguese: garçom, garçon
• → Romanian: garson
• → Slovak: garsón, garsónka
• → Spanish: garzón
• → Turkish: garson

See also

• fille
• fils

References

• Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition (1997)

Further reading

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

Norman

Alternative forms

• garçaon (Guernsey)

Etymology

Borrowed from French garçon. Displaced native hardé.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

garçon m (plural garçons)

1. (Jersey) boy

Old French

Alternative forms

• garson, garceon, garçun

Etymology

From Medieval Latin garciō (“mercenary, servant, boy”), from Frankish *wrakjō (“servant, boy”), from Proto-Germanic *wrakjô (“exile, driven one”).

Noun

garçon m (oblique plural garçons, nominative singular gars, nominative plural garçon)

1. manservant

   Synonym: vaslet

Descendants

• → Irish: gasúr, garsún
• Middle French: garçon, garson
  • French: garçon (see there for further descendants), gars
• Norman: garçon
• Picard: garchon
• → Middle English: garsoun, garson, garzun

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French garçon.

Noun

garçon m (plural garçons)

1. Alternative form of garçom