New Game: What's the Word?

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What's the Word: FAUBOURG

pronunciation: [FOH-boorg]

 

Part of speech: noun

Origin: French, 15th century

 

Meaning:

1. (Usually in place names) A suburb, especially one in Paris.

 

Examples:

"The faubourgs of Paris were absorbed into the metropolis after the city walls expanded outward."

"Much like Paris, Montreal contains many faubourgs that used to be considered distant suburbs, until the city grew to encompass them."

About Faubourg

“Faubourg” is a loanword from French. It was formed in Old French by combining “fors,” meaning “outside,” with “bourg,” meaning “town.”

 

Did you Know?

“Faubourg” is much older than the English word “suburb,” but the ideas are similar. With the Latin roots “forīs,” meaning “out of,” and “burgum,” meaning “town” or “fortress,” “faubourg” traditionally referred to a community or neighborhood located outside the gate or walls of a fortified city. The rise of the term “faubourg” occurred in Paris during the 16th century, at a time when that city was fortified by a wall. The original Parisian faubourgs were architecturally distinct urban areas that bore little resemblance to modern European and North American suburbs. After the demolition of the Parisian city wall in 1701, and the expansion of city borders in 1860, most Parisian faubourgs became a part of the city proper, and today, “faubourg” is a term to describe a longtime residential neighborhood.