poitrail

French

Etymology

Originally poitral, with change of suffix after -ail, from Latin pectoralis. Doublet of pectoral.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pwa.tʁaj/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

poitrail m (plural poitrails)

1. chest (of horse); breast (of bird etc.)
2. (humorous) chest (of human)
   • 1960, George Brassens (lyrics and music), “Le mécréant”:

     Je vais grossir les rangs des muets du sérail / Les bell’s ne viendront plus se prendre à mon poitrail

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. poitrel (armor for a horse's chest)

Further reading

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