alouette

French

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French aloëte, diminutive aloe +‎ -ette, from Latin alauda, from Gaulish *alawda (“skylark”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.lwɛt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

alouette f (plural alouettes)

1. lark (bird)
   • 1896 September 27, Octave Mirbeau, “Le tripot aux champs”, in Le Journal:

     C’est l’heure charmante où l’alouette s’élève dans le ciel, salue de ses trilles et de ses roulades le matin jeune, virginal et triomphant.

     It is the charming hour when the lark rises into the sky and salutes with its trilling and swirling song the young, virginal, and triumphant morning.

Derived terms

• alouette des champs
• alouette hausse-col
• alouette lulu
• miroir aux alouettes

 

Etymology 2

From Etymology 1, alluding to the French-Canadian folk song Alouette, a cumulative song with a lengthening list of body parts.

Interjection

alouette

1. (usually humorous) Used at the end of a long list of items; and a partridge in a pear tree
   • 2020, Philippe Mercure, “COVID-19 : quand la maladie s'éternise”, in La Presse:

     Neurologue, pneumologue, plusieurs cardiologues, oto-rhino-laryngologiste, rhumatologue, spécialiste des maladies infectieuses, alouette : son quotidien est rythmé par les examens avec les nombreux spécialistes qui la suivent.

     Neurologist, pneumonologist, several cardiologists, ENT, rheumatologist, infectious disease specialist, and a partridge in a pear tree: the rhythm of her daily life is set by her appointments with the numerous specialists who are following her.

Further reading

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

Norman

Alternative forms

• alouaette (Guernsey)

Etymology

From Old French aloëte, diminutive of aloe, from Latin alauda, from Gaulish [Term?].

Noun

alouette f (plural alouettes)

1. (Jersey) skylark
   • 1903, Edgar MacCulloch, “Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc.”, in Guernsey Folk Lore‎^[1], page 542:

     I' vit d'amour et de belles chànsons—coum' les alouettes de roques.

     He lives on love and fine songs—as larks do on stones.

Derived terms

• alouette dé banque, alouette dé grève, alouette dé rotchi (“rock pipit”)
• alouette dé mielle, p'tite alouette (“meadow pipit”)
• blianche alouette (“snow bunting”)
• pid-d'alouette (“crabgrass, larkspur”)