▪ I. ‖ bonne, a. and n.
(bɔn)
[F. bonne, fem. of bon good; also n. a nurse, i.e. ‘good woman’.]
† A. adj. Good. Obs.
| a 1529 Skelton Magnyf. 1003 Her fethers donne, Well⁓faueryd, bonne. |
B. n.
† 1. A good girl; ? a novice. Obs.
| a 1529 Skelton Image Hypocr. iv. 133 Systers and nonnes And littel pretty bonnes. |
2. A (French) nursemaid.
| 1771 Wilkes Corr. (1805) IV. 85 Do not forget me to your bonne. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. i. ii. 22 Old ladies..rang for their Bonnes and cordial-drops. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxvi, Her French bonne with her, the child by her side. |
C. In certain French phrases, now or formerly in English use:
bonne-bouche (bɔn buʃ). pl. bonnes bouches. [F. bonne good, bouche mouth.] In French ‘A pleasing taste in the mouth’ (Littré): but in English taken for ‘dainty mouthful or morsel’ (in French ‘morceau qui fait ou donne bonne bouche’).
| 1762 Symmer in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 495 IV. 455, I must give you a piece of good news by way of a bonne bouche. 1822 W. Kitchiner Cook's Orac. 343 Its high rank on the list of savoury Bonnes Bouches. 1870 Eng. Mech. 21 Jan. 449/1 Some early bird, to which a caterpillar is a bonne bouche. |
bonne femme (bɔn fam). [F. bonne good, femme wife.] Also à la bonne femme. In the manner of a good housewife: applied esp. postpositively to food prepared in various ways.
| 1824 Byron Juan xv. lxiii. 36 There was a goodly ‘soupe à la bonne femme’. 1869 M. Jewry Warne's Model Cookery 35/2 Eggs a la Bonne Femme. 1959 R. Postgate Good Food Guide 148 Sole bonne femme. |
bonne fortune (bɔn fɔrtyn). [Fr.] A lady's favours, as a thing to boast of or pride oneself on; also transf.
| 1823 Byron Juan xiv. lxiv. 149 'Tis best to pause, and think..If that a ‘bonne fortune’ be really ‘bonne’. 1825 H. Wilson Memoirs I. 314 Beauclerc was, in due time, tired of his bonne fortune. Ibid. II. 86 She flattered their vanity with the idea, that her acquaintance was an unusual bonne fortune. 1939 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Nov. 637/1 London drawing-rooms, whose bonnes fortunes were many and gratifying even by Regency standards. |
† bonne mine (bɔn min). Obs. Good appearance, good show. to make a bonne-mine (Mil.): to display oneself in force, to show a bold front.
| 1644 Sir G. Dudley To Prince Rupert 3 (D.) We expected they would have disputed our passage over the river Dun, but they only made a bon-mine there and left us the Toune. 1660 Blount Boscobel 9 Sultan Oliver appear'd..on Redhill..where he made a Bonne-mine but attempted nothing. |
▪ II. bonne
obs. form of bun and boon a.