homard

See also: Homard

French

FWOTD – 26 October 2025

Etymology

From Middle French homard, hommars, houmar (all 16th c.), probably via Middle Low German hummer from Old Norse humarr (lobster), from Proto-Germanic *humaraz. A direct borrowing from Scandinavian is less likely regarding the late attestation. Dutch hommer dates from the 19th century and cannot have been the source. Cognate with German Hummer, Middle English hemroll, all “lobster”.

Pronunciation

  • (aspirated h) IPA(key): /ɔ.maʁ/, /o.maʁ/
  • (Louisiana) IPA(key): /hɔ̃mar/, /ɔ̃mar/

Noun

homard m (plural homards)

  1. lobster (a crustacean of the Nephropidae, or Homaridae, family)
    • 1758, Histoire Naturelle des Insectes, traduite du Biblia Naturae de Jean Swammerdam, Collection Académique, composée des mémoires, actes ou journaux [] , volume 5 of the series (2 of the subseries), Article III, page 447:
      [] dans les écrevisses & dans les homards, les dents ne sont placées que dans la cavité même de l'estomac []
      [] in crayfish and lobsters, the teeth are located only inside the stomach cavity []
    • 2010, Valdman, et al., Dictionary of Louisiana French as Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities, page 201:
      Les homards et les Cadiens aviont resté ensemb’ en paix des siec’ de temps jusqu’à la déportation.
      Lobsters and Cajuns had lived together in peace for centuries until the deportation.
    Synonym: lobster m (Louisiana)

Derived terms

Descendants

See also

References


Further reading

Middle English

Adverb

homard

  1. alternative form of homward