basque

See also: Basque

English

Etymology

    Borrowed from French basque.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /bæsk/, /bɑːsk/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
    • Homophones: bask, Basque
    • Rhymes: -æsk, -ɑːsk

    Noun

    basque (plural basques)

    1. The part of a waistcoat etc. extending below the waist.
    2. A woman's close-fitting bodice, underbodice, or corset having such a feature.
      • 2025 August 30, Jo Ellison, “Taylor Swift is entering her conservative era”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20:
        Will she be able to pull off the double act? Can she play the cosy tradwife and still be the sexpot in a basque?

    Derived terms

    Translations

    See also

    French

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /bask/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Audio (France (Lyon)):(file)

    Etymology 1

    Inherited from Old French baste, probably borrowed from Provençal or Occitan basto, from Frankish *bastijan (“to weave, plait, sew”).[1] But others suggest it was named after the fashion of the Basques,[2][3] the same as basquine[4][5][6] and Spanish basquiña.[7]

    Noun

    basque f (plural basques)

    1. skirt, skirts (of a jacket, morning coat etc.); basque (of waistcoat)
    2. (figurative) coattail (as in: coller aux basques, lâcher les basques)
      • 2015 January, Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex, volume 1, Éditions Grasset, →ISBN, page 15:
        Il n'était pas fidèle, et elles se suspendaient d’autant plus facilement à ses basques que lui ne pensait qu’à se défiler.
        he was not faithful, and they latched onto his coat-tails all the more readily because he was intent only on slipping away.
    3. (figurative) A women’s coattail
    Derived terms

    Etymology 2

    This form is inherited from Middle French and took precedence in the mid 15th century.[8] Derived from Latin Vascō, singular form of the plural noun Vascones (see there for more).

    The transition of the initial -v- to -b- indicates a likely loan from Spanish or Occitan. Old French forms included bascle, and Old Provençal (Occitan), bascon, basclon.[9] Medieval Latin had the plurals bascli, basculi,[10] and basclos, basculos, but also basclones, basculones, while Renaissance Latin used Basculus among other names.[11] The latinate forms with a v have remained in use too. Doublet of gascon and Vascon, from the accusative form Vasconem. A connection to the family of Basque euskal, euskara is uncertain.

    Adjective

    basque (plural basques)

    1. Basque
    Derived terms

    Noun

    basque m (uncountable)

    1. Basque (the language of the Basque people)

    References

    1. ^ “basque”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
    2. ^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “basque”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 1: A–B, page 272
    3. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1878), “basque”, in Dictionnaire de la langue française, Paris: L. Hachette
    4. ^ “basquine”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
    5. ^ Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “basquine”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.
    6. ^ Cotgrave, Randle (1611), “Basquine; Vasquine; Vasquiner”, in A dictionarie of the French and English tongues‎[1], A.Islip
    7. ^ “basquiña”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026
    8. ^ but it is attested already in the 13th century: EODA: Euskal Herria.
    9. ^ “basque”, in Dictionnaire de l’occitan médiéval en ligne (in German and French), Munich: LMU, 2013–2026
    10. ^ "Bascli", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
    11. ^ “Basque”, in Dictionnaire universel francois et latin, contenant la signification et la definition tant des mots de l'une & de l'autre langue, volume 1, 1752, page 1405

    Middle French

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    See above.

    Noun

    basque m (plural basques)

    1. Basque (language)
    2. Basque (person)
    3. (historical) biscaïen or biscayne, a person or a thing related to the region of Biscay or the city Bayonne

    Synonyms

    • Cantaber

    References

    1. ^ basque1 on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Godefroy, Frédéric (1901), Lexique de l'ancien français, page 48
    3. ^ “basque”, in Anglo-Norman Dictionary, 2nd edition, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: Aberystwyth University, 2001–2026: “Bascle”
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 “basque”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000: “Portyngalers, Galycyans, Biskers, Baskones, Chavers, and Bretoners”
    5. ^ "basque", in Jean Nicot, Thresor de la langue françoyse, tant ancienne que moderne (1606).
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