boucan

English

Etymology

From French boucan, from Old Tupi mokaém, bokaém (“wooden grill”).

Noun

boucan (plural boucans)

1. A wooden grill or structure for cooking meat and fish on, of a style used by the Tupi or others in the Caribbean.

   Coordinate terms: grill, barbecue

   • 1877, Angus Bethune Reach, Leonard Lindsay: or, The Story of a Buccaneer, page 41:

     These savages were so fond of this cookery, and of such endurance, that an Indian returning from the chase, fatigued and hungry, would often wait patiently by the boucan, or as they called it, the barbecu, the best part of a day, until a fish […]

   • 1891, James Burney, History of the Buccaneers of America, page 49:

     The process is thus described: "The bones being taken out, the flesh was cut into convenient pieces and salted, and the next day was taken to the boucan". […] From adopting the boucan of the Carribees, the hunters in Hispaniola, the Spaniards excepted, came to be called boucaniers,

   • 1922, Adventure, page 10:

     “Put them on the platforms in the boucans,” ordered Bart, pointing to a row of the curing huts. “We surrendered,” protested the officer, his face white under the moon. “What manner of brutes are ye? Would you roast us alive?”

   • 2005, J. Allan Dunn, The Golden Dolphin and Other Pirate Tales from the Pulps, Wildside Press LLC, →ISBN, page 212:

     "You will find it very unpleasant in the boucans after the charcoal gets properly started and the ammonia comes from the burning bones and hides."

Anagrams

• Cubano

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu.kɑ̃/

Etymology 1

From obsolete verb boucaner (“to imitate the sound of the goat”), from bouc (“goat”). Compare with Italian baccano.

Noun

boucan m (plural boucans)

1. (informal) racket, hubbub (loud and unpleasant noise)

   Synonyms: tapage, ramdam, vacarme

   Ce n’est pas bientôt fini ce boucan, on ne s’entend plus !

   Are you about finished making that racket? We can't hear ourselves think!

   Ça a fait un de ces boucans !

   It made an awful racket!

Etymology 2

From Old Tupi moka'ẽ, mboka'ẽ (“wooden grill”).

Noun

boucan (plural boucans)

1. a boucan (“grill”)

Derived terms

• boucaner

Descendants

• → English: boucan, buccan

Further reading

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