hirondelle

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Occitan irondela, diminutive of irunda, ironda, ultimately from Latin hirundō. Replaced Old French arondelle, diminutive of aronde, from Latin hirundō (compare also harundō).

Pronunciation

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /i.ʁɔ̃.dɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

hirondelle f (plural hirondelles)

1. swallow (bird)
   • 1976, Michel Fugain et le Big Bazar, "Le printemps".

     L’hirondelle et la fauvette, c’est la forêt qui me l’a dit / L’hirondelle et la fauvette, ont déjà fait leur nid

     The swallow and the warbler, it's the forest that told me / The swallow and the warbler have already made their nests

2. (printing) alignment mark printed in the margin
3. (colloquial, dated) policeman on a bicycle or motorcycle

Derived terms

• hirondelle de rochers
• une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps

Further reading

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