‖ bêche-de-mer
(bɛʃ də mɛr)
[Fr., altered from biche de mer, a. Pg. bicho do mar, lit. sea-worm.]
A marine animal, an echinoderm (Holothuria edulis), called also Trepang, Sea-cucumber, Sea-slug, eaten as a luxury by the Chinese. Hence a vb. to bêche-de-mer. b. = Beach-la-mar.
| 1814 Flinders Voy. Terra Austr. in Penny Cycl. XII. 270/2 The beche-de-mer, or sea-cucumber, which we had first seen on the reefs of the east coast. 1847 Carpenter Zool. §1023 Those who go bêche-de-mer-ing, as the employment is commonly termed. 1849 W. T. Power Sketches in N.Z. xxiii. 216 The bêche-de-mer and shark-fins, both of which..are valuable articles of trade with China. 1884 [see sea-slug 1]. 1911 J. London Cruise of Snark xvi, Bêche de mer English was the product of conditions and circumstances. 1947 I. L. Idriess Isles of Despair xxxviii. 251 The venturesome crews had found a rich patch of bêche-de-mer. 1951 Amer. Speech XXVI. 25 The pidgin of Hawaii differs markedly from the pidgin English..of the China coast, the pidgin of Melanesia, and the bêche-de-mer of the western Pacific. |