guêpe

French

Etymology

From Middle French guespe, from Old French guespe, wespe, wapce (“hornet, wasp”), from a conflation of Latin vespa (“wasp”), and Old Frankish *wespa, *wapsa (“wasp”), from Proto-Germanic *wapsō (“wasp”); both from Proto-Indo-European *wobʰseh₂, from *webʰ- (“to weave”).

Cognate with Old High German wefsa (“wasp”), Old Saxon waspa, wespia (“wasp”), Old English wæsp, wæps (“wasp”). More at wasp.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛp/

  • audio (France):

    (file)

• IPA^(key): [ɡaɛ̯p]

  • audio (Quebec):

    (file)

• Audio (CAN):

  (file)

• IPA^(key): [d͡ʒɛp]

Noun

guêpe f (plural guêpes)

1. wasp

Derived terms

• guêpier
• guêpière

• taille de guêpe

See also

• abeille f
• frelon m

Further reading

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