clochard

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French clochard.

Noun

clochard (plural clochards)

1. A beggar or tramp, especially in France.
   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 492:

     He nearly fell over the Pont Neuf, enjoyed the conversation and esteem of several hairy clochards, and was finally knocked down by a taxi in the Place Vendôme […]

   • 2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 92:

     ‘Those clochards in Cannes, mostly old soixante-huitards. They see a tribute to modern industrial genius and can't resist giving it a swift kick.’

Dutch

Alternative forms

• klosjaar

Etymology

Borrowed from French clochard.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klɔˈʃaːr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: clo‧chard

Noun

clochard m (plural clochards, diminutive clochardje n)

1. (chiefly Belgium, quite derogatory) vagrant, tramp, bum

   Synonyms: zwerver, dakloze

French

Etymology

Disputed. One possible etymology is clocher (“to limp”) +‎ -ard, another one is from cloche (“clumsy person, oaf”)

Un clochard

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klɔ.ʃaʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

clochard m (plural clochards, feminine clocharde)

1. (now usually derogatory) tramp; vagrant

   Synonym: clodo

   • 1993, Patrick Gaboriau, Clochard. L'univers d'un groupe de sans-abri parisiens:

     La vie quotidienne des clochards est mal connue.

     The everyday life of vagrants is poorly known.

Descendants

• → Dutch: clochard
• → English: clochard
• → Italian: clochard
• → Slovene: klošar
• → Serbo-Croatian: klošar
• → Polish: kloszard
• → Macedonian: клошар (klošar)
• → Russian: клошар (klošar)

Further reading

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

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French clochard.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klo(ʃ)ˈʃard/
• Rhymes: -ard
• Hyphenation: clo‧chàrd

Noun

clochard m or f by sense (invariable)

1. (now non derogatory) tramp, vagrant, homeless

   Synonyms: (derogatory) barbone, senzatetto

Further reading

• clochard in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana