houille

French

Etymology

From Old Walloon (Liégeois) hulhes ( > modern Wallon hoye), probably from Frankish *hukila (“pile, mound”), a diminutive form (compare dialectal Dutch heukel).

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /uj/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

houille f (plural houilles)

1. stone coal, mineral coal

Derived terms

• gaz de houille

Descendants

• → Galician: hulla
• → Portuguese: hulha
• → Romanian: huilă
• → Spanish: hulla

See also

• charbon

Further reading

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