double entendre

Etymology

From French double (“double”) + entendre (“to mean, to understand”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dubl ɑ̃tɑ̃ːdɹ/^[1]
• (UK, Anglicised) IPA^(key): /dʌbəl ɒnˈtɒndɹə/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

double entendre (plural double entendres or (nonstandard) double entendre)

1. (idiomatic) A phrase that has two meanings, especially where one is innocent and literal, the other risqué, bawdy, or ironic; an innuendo.
   • 1812, A treatise on politeness, tr. from the French by a lady, page 172

     Avoid all equivocal expressions, usually denominated double entendre; they are certain proofs of a mean and indelicate mind.

   • 1891, Paulist Fathers, Catholic World, page 785:

     It is a momentous crusade without the cross; and an insidious one, for the calumnies and double entendre against the church are well wrapped up and keenly distributed.

   • 2000, James P. Lantolf, Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning, page 126:

     It is not only the teacher's play with single words, phrases, and double entendre that are common in my classroom data.