gerbe

See also: gerbé and gërbë

English

Etymology

Late 16th century, borrowed from French gerbe (“sheaf”). Doublet of garb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɜː(ɹ)b/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)b

Noun

gerbe (plural gerbes)

1. (now obsolete) A (wheat) sheaf.
2. Something resembling a (wheat) sheaf in appearance. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
3. (mathematics) An abstract construction in homological algebra and geometry providing a certain type of generalisation for a sheaf.
4. (pyrotechnics) A kind of ornamental firework.
   • 1835, Frederick Bruhl, The Complete Art of Making Fireworks:

     on the top of the post fix a gerbe; then clothe all the cases with leaders , so that both they and the gerbe may take fire at the same time

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Anagrams

• Gebre, Grebe, grebe

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒɛʁb/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle French gerbe, garbe, from Old French jarbe, garbe, borrowed from Frankish *garbā (“sheaf”).

Noun

gerbe f (plural gerbes)

1. (agriculture) sheaf (of wheat)
2. spray, bouquet (of flowers)
3. collection, anthology (of pieces of literature)
4. (heraldry) garb
5. (historical) tithe on crops under the Ancien Régime

Related terms

• gerber
• gerbier

 

Descendants

• → English: gerbe

Etymology 2

Deverbal from gerber.

Noun

gerbe f (uncountable)

1. (slang) puke, throw up (vomit)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

gerbe

1. inflection of gerber:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• berge

German

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

gerbe

1. inflection of gerben:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative