requin

English

Etymology

From French requin (“shark”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹi.kwɪn/

Noun

requin (plural requins)

1. (dated) The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias).
   • 1893, Rev. H. J. Foster, “Jonah”, in The Thinker, volume 9, page 124:

     The big gullet of the requin shark, for example, could do so. It has been killed with men inside whole.

References

• “requin”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• quiner

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈre.kin]

Verb

requin

1. inflection of recar:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

French

Etymology

1529; Uncertain. Several origins have been proposed :

• From requiem. Spellings such as requien (1578) or requiem (17th century) are influenced by this etymology. Probably a folk etymology.
• re- + Picard or Norman quien (“dog”) (cognate of chien). Compare chien de mer (literally “sea dog”), a word used to refer to several species of sharks.
• Deverbal of Old Northern French requignier (“to grimace while baring teeth”) (Old French reschignier, hence rechigner), from Frankish *kīnan (“to split open”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.kɛ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Agen)):

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Noun

requin m (plural requins)

1. shark

   Synonym: squale

   • 1968, “Bébé requin”, in 1968, performed by France Gall:

     Je suis un bébé requin / Au ventre blanc, aux dents nacrées / Dans les eaux chaudes, je t'entraînerai

     I'm a baby shark / White-bellied, pearl-toothed / In warm waters I will drag you

2. (derogatory) a person profiting from others by treachery

Derived terms

• grand requin blanc
• grand requin-marteau
• requin à pointes noires
• requin baleine
• requin bleu
• requin bouledogue
• requin cuivre
• requin dormeur buffle
• requin dormeur cornu
• requin dormeur du Pacifique
• requin du Groenland
• requin grande gueule
• requin gris
• requin griset
• requin longimane
• requin mako
• requin pèlerin
• requin renard
• requin saumon
• requin tigre
• requin-chat arlequin
• requin-crocodile
• requin-marteau

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: reken
• → English: requin, requiem
• → Polish: rekin
• → Romanian: rechin

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• niquer