requin

English

Etymology

From French requin (“shark”); see below.

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

1539;[1] Norman reflex of Old French reschin (12th c.), deverbal from reschignier (“to grimace while baring teeth”), rekigner (“to make an ugly face”),[2][3] from Frankish *kīnan (“to split open”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ʁə.kɛ̃/
  • audio(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
  • → English: requin
  • Haitian Creole: reken
  • → Romanian: rechin
  • → Polish: rekin

References
  1. Paul Imbs & Bernard Quemada, eds., Trésor de la langue française: Dictionnaire de la langue du XIXe et du XXe siècle (1789-1960), s.v. “requin” (Paris: CNRS/Gallimard, 1971–1994).
  2. Albert Deshayes, Dictionnaire étymologique du breton (Douarnenez: Le Chasse-Marée, 2003), 620.
  3. Alain Rey, ed., Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 2nd edn. (Paris: Le Robert, 1998), 3:8203–4.

Further reading

Anagrams
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