ébauche

Etymology

From early modern French esbauche (“the first form of a work of art, a proto-type”), deverbal of Middle French esbaucher (“to rough-hew, frame”), alteration (due to Middle French bauche (“beam, wooden crosspiece”)) of Old French esbosquier, esboskier (“to rough-hew beams”), from es- (“out”) + bosc (“wood, firewood”), from Frankish *busk (“wood, firewood”), from Proto-Germanic *buskaz (“wood, thicket”). Cognate with Old French esbochier (“to prune grapes”), French bois (“wood”), bau (“crossbeam”). More at bush, balk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.boʃ/

Noun

ébauche f (plural ébauches)

1. draft (early version of a written work)

Verb

ébauche

1. first-person singular present indicative of ébaucher
2. third-person singular present indicative of ébaucher
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of ébaucher
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of ébaucher
5. second-person singular imperative of ébaucher

Further reading

• “ébauche” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).