pluvieux

French

Etymology

From Middle French pluvieux, from Old French pluviex (13th c.), from Latin pluviōsus. The regular descendant of this is Old French plujos, which would have yielded modern *plugeux; compare Catalan plujós. By analogy with pluie, there was also a byform pluios (Middle French pluyeux), in which /v/ may have been inserted after plovoir; compare the Middle French variants plouvieux, pleuvieux. However, the form may also be of learned origin and was, at any rate, reinforced by its Latinate shape.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ply.vjø/

• Audio:

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• Audio (Canada):

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Adjective

pluvieux (feminine pluvieuse, masculine plural pluvieux, feminine plural pluvieuses)

1. rainy (characterised by rain)

   Antonym: sec

   Near-synonym: humide

   climat pluvieux ― wet climate

   la saison pluvieuse ― the wet season

   des journées pluvieuses ― rainy days

   une région pluvieuse ― a wet region, a rainy region

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with pluvial, which describes that which has fallen rain as its origin (e.g. eaux pluviales, rainwater as a collective) or cause (e.g. erosion resulting from rainfall).

Derived terms

• pluviosité

Related terms

• pluie
• pluviôse
• pleuvoir

References

• “pluvieux”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• “pluvieux” in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse.