brouette

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French brouette, from Old French baroueste (“barrow, dumper with one wheel”), diminutive of barot (“barrow”), from Frankish *barwā, *barwijā (“barrow”), from Proto-Germanic *barwijǭ, *barwǭ (“barrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). Compare Picard barou (“barrow”), Franco-Provençal barotte (“barrow”), Bourguignon barrô (“barrow”), Italian baroccio (“cart”) from the same Germanic source. Cognate with Middle Dutch berie (“barrow”), Middle High German bere (“barrow”), Old English bearwe (“barrow”). More at barrow.

Old French baroueste was assimilated in form to Old French brouete, berouette, berouaite (“small two-wheeled cart”), believed to be a diminutive of Old Northern French *beroue, from Latin birota (“a two-wheel cart, usually drawn by horse or mule”), which may have additionally been conflated with the Germanic forms above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʁu.ɛt/, IPA^(key): /bʁwɛt/

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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Noun

brouette f (plural brouettes)

1. wheelbarrow; barrow (small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand)

Verb

brouette

1. inflection of brouetter:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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

Alternative forms

• brouete (approximately as common)

Etymology

From Old French baroueste (“barrow, dumper with one wheel”), diminutive of barot (“barrow”), from Frankish *barwa, *berwa (“barrow”), from Proto-Germanic *barwijǭ, *barwǭ (“barrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”).

Noun

brouette f (plural brouettes)

1. wheelbarrow