requin

requin

English

Etymology

    Borrowed from French requin (shark).

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    requin (plural requins)

    1. (dated) The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias).
      • 1893, Rev. H. J. Foster, “Jonah”, in The Thinker, volume 9, page 124:
        The big gullet of the requin shark, for example, could do so. It has been killed with men inside whole.

    References

    Anagrams

    Catalan

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    requin

    1. inflection of recar:
      1. third-person plural present subjunctive
      2. third-person plural imperative

    French

    Etymology

    1529; Uncertain. Several origins have been proposed : [1]

    • From requiem. Spellings such as requien (1578) or requiem (17th century) are influenced by this etymology. Probably a folk etymology.
    • From re- + Picard or Norman quien (dog) (cognate of chien). Compare chien de mer (literally sea dog), a word used to refer to several species of sharks.
    • Deverbal of Old Northern French requignier (to grimace while baring teeth) (Old French reschignier, hence rechigner), from Frankish *kīnan (to split open).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ʁə.kɛ̃/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Audio (France (Vosges)):(file)
    • Audio (France (Agen)):(file)

    Noun

    requin m (plural requins)

    1. shark
      Synonym: squale
      • 1968, “Bébé requin”, in 1968, performed by France Gall:
        Je suis un bébé requin / Au ventre blanc, aux dents nacrées / Dans les eaux chaudes, je t'entraînerai
        I'm a baby shark / White-bellied, pearl-toothed / In warm waters I will drag you
    2. (derogatory) a person profiting from others by treachery

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Haitian Creole: reken
    • English: requin, requiem
    • Polish: rekin
    • Romanian: rechin

    References

    1. ^ Alain Rey (2010), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française (in French)

    Further reading

    Anagrams