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/
Audio; “un homard”: (file) Audio (France): (file) Audio (Switzerland (Valais)): (file) Audio (France (Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost)): (file) Audio (France (Vosges)): (file)
- (Louisiana) IPA(key): /hɔ̃mar/, /ɔ̃mar/
Noun
homard m (plural homards)
- 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.
- 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:
Derived terms
Descendants
Descendants
See also
- écrevisse (“crayfish”)
- langoustine (“Norway lobster”)
References
Further reading
- “homard”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
- Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009; →ISBN; →ISBN)
Middle English
Adverb
homard
- alternative form of homward