noyau

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French noyau, from Middle French noyau, from Old French noel, from either Early Medieval Latin nōdellus (“buckle”) or Late Latin nucālis (“nut-like”). Doublet of newel and noil.

Noun

noyau (countable and uncountable, plural noyaus or noyaux)

1. A French liqueur made at Poissy in north central France from brandy and flavoured with almonds and the pits of apricots. [from 18th c.]
   • 1792, James Boswell, in Danziger & Brady (eds.), Boswell: The Great Biographer (Journals 1789–1795), Yale 1989, p. 178:

     His coffee was excellent, and then came a case of liqueurs, noyau both white and red, etc.

2. (ethology, countable) A small nucleus or core group of people or animals. [from 20th c.]
   • 1966 August 26, Richard Ardrey, “Strongest Bond of All - The Space We Own”, in LIFE, page 58:

     Borders are violated by hungering males and famished females, and the ordered animosities of the noyau give way to a saturnalia of sexual adventure.

   • 1999, Ronald M. Nowak, Walker's Primates of the World, JHU Press, →ISBN, page 27:

     The orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) also exhibits the noyau system and appears to be the only diurnal primate with a largely solitary lifestyle.

   • 2000, Sergio M. Pellis, Andrew N. Iwaniuk, “Adult-Adult Play in Primates: Comparative Analyses of Its Origin, Distribution and Evolution”, in Ethology, 106, page 1089:

     This "noyau" pattern is found among various nocturnal strepsirrhines.

References

• https://web.archive.org/web/20130330004136/http://www.noyaudepoissy.com/pages/histoire.htm

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French noyau, backformed from Old French noiaus, plural of noial, a variant of Old French noel, from either Early Medieval Latin nōdellus (“buckle”), diminutive of nōdus (“knot”), or Late Latin nucālis (“nut-like”), derivative of nux (“nut”). Compare English newel and noil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nwa.jo/

• Audio (CA):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -jo

Noun

noyau m (plural noyaux)

1. stone (of a fruit), pit (of a fruit)
2. group (of artists etc.); cell (of terrorists etc.)
3. (geology) core
4. (biology, physics) nucleus
5. (computing) kernel
6. (phonetics, phonology) nucleus of a syllable

   Antonyms: attaque, coda

Derived terms

• antinoyau
• noyau atomique
• noyau terrestre
• noyautage
• noyauter

Descendants

• → English: noyau

Further reading

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