fusain

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French fusain.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪn

Noun

fusain (countable and uncountable, plural fusains)

2. Fine charcoal of willow wood, used as a drawing implement.
4. A drawing made with it.
6. Fossilized charcoal that exists in geologic formations, which often contain other fossil fuels nearby as well (e.g., bitumen, brown coal).

   Synonym: mother of coal

   Hypernyms: mineral coal, coal; charcoal

Anagrams

• Finaus

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French fusain, from Vulgar Latin *fusago, from Latin fusus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fyˈzɛn/
• Hyphenation: fu‧sain
• Rhymes: -ɛn

Noun

fusain m (plural fusains)

1. (art) a fusain, a charcoal sketch
2. (art, chiefly uncountable) fusain, a type of charcoal used for drawing
   • ca. 1882, Vincent van Gogh, letter 287, in Brieven aan zijn broeder, part 2, publ. 1914, page 158.

     Ik heb deze teekening gemaakt met fusain en bergkrijt en drukinkt.

     I have made this drawing with fusain and mountain chalk and printer's ink.

Hypernyms

• houtskool

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French fusain (“spindle tree”), receiving an artistic sense in early 18th c. because its carbonized sticks were very convenient for drawing, further from Old French fusain akin to Italian fusaggine (“spindle tree”), derived from Latin fuso (“spindle”), which is from fusus of unclear origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fy.zɛ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

fusain m (plural fusains)

1. spindle tree
2. (art, uncountable) charcoal
3. (art, countable) charcoal drawing

Further reading

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