faux-bourdon

French

FWOTD – 7 November 2020

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fo.buʁ.dɔ̃/

Noun

faux-bourdon m (plural faux-bourdons)

1. drone (bee)
   • 2013 February 15, Stéphanie Forestier, “C’est le moment de louer une ruche”, in le Parisien:

     Les abeilles dites Frère Adam ont d’abord grandi dans une nurserie et sont issues d’une reine et d’un faux-bourdon.

     The so-called Brother Adam bees first grew up in a nursery and came from a queen and a drone.

2. a musical style in which a countermelody sung above the melody and another sung below create the impression of a bass that isn't really there

Further reading

• “faux-bourdon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.