bivouac
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unadapted borrowing from French bivouac (earlier biouac, bivac), from Alemannic German Biiwacht (“reinforcements of guard or town watch”), from bii- + Wacht (“watch, guard”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]
bivouac (plural bivouacs)
- An encampment for the night, usually without tents or covering.
- 2014, Patrick Armstrong, The Log of a Snow Survey, →ISBN:
- Townsend hare inhabit this area, particularly above the cabin, and a skier is likely to have one explode from a tree well and disappear into the whiteness as he skis by. Life is a constant bivouac for them -- they spend days huddled in tree wells during storms -- but I suspect they are as content and warm in their luxurious coats as we are in a cabin.
- Any temporary encampment.
- A temporary shelter constructed generally for a few nights.
- 1977, K.M. Elizabeth Murray, Caught in the Web of Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 63:
- Behold the Mansion reared by Dædal Jack!
See the Malt stored in many a plethoric sack,
In the proud cirque of Juan's bivouac!
- September 23, 2005, Boston Globe:
- The outing begins by Thursday noon, when the recreational vehicles start rumbling into town and their owners set up bivouacs.
- (dated) The watch of a whole army by night, when in danger of surprise or attack.
- (zoology) A structure formed by migratory ants out of their own bodies to protect the queen and larvae.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]encampment for the night, usually without tents or covering
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temporary shelter for a few nights
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Verb
[edit]bivouac (third-person singular simple present bivouacs or bivouacks, present participle bivouacing or bivouacking, simple past and past participle bivouacked)
- (transitive, intransitive)To set up camp.
- We'll bivouac here tonight.
- 1951, C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia:
- They reached the fir wood which had caused them so much trouble while it was still daylight, and bivouacked in a hollow just above it. It was tedious gathering the fire wood; […]
- (intransitive) To watch at night or be on guard, as a whole army.
- (intransitive) To encamp for the night without tents or covering.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to set up camp
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French
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From earlier bivoie, biouac, bivac, from Alemannic German Biiwacht (“a patrol of citizens added - in time of alarm or commotion - to the regular town watch”), from bii- (“by-”) + Wacht (“watch, guard”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]bivouac m (plural bivouacs)
- bivouac (encampment for the night)
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- → Bulgarian: бивак (bivak)
- → Czech: bivak
- → Danish: bivuak
- → Dutch: bivak
- → English: bivouac, bivouack, biouac, bivoac, bihovac (obsolete), bivy, bivvy (shortening)
- → German: Biwak
- → Galician: bivaque
- → Hungarian: bivak
- → Italian: bivacco
- → Japanese: ビバーク (bibāku)
- → Macedonian: бивак (bivak)
- → Polish: biwak
- → Portuguese: bivaque
- → Russian: бивак (bivak), бивуак (bivuak)
- → Slovak: bivak
- → Slovene: bivak
- → Spanish: vivac, vivaque
- → Swedish: bivack
Further reading
[edit]- “bivouac”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
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