‖ bateau
(bato)
Also, less correctly, batteau. Pl. bateaux (batoːz).
[Fr.:—OF. batel ‘boat,’ cogn. w. Sp. batel, It. battello, dim. of batto; cf. med.L. batellus, batus, battus, prob. from Teut., and ON. bátr, OE. bát, Eng. boat.]
1. A light river boat; esp. the long tapering boats with flat bottoms used by the French Canadians. bateau-bridge: a floating bridge supported by bateaux. Cf. battoe.
| 1711 in N.J. Archives (1882) IV. 137 If you have not engaged Sloops for Albany they may go from hence in Bateaux. Ibid. 318, I pressed all the carpenters in the place..for the dispatch of these batteaux. 1759 Hist. Eur. in Ann. Reg. 44/2 Dangerous to venture his troops..upon the water in open batteaux. 1823 F. Cooper Pioneer xxiii, The batteau shot into the circle of light. 1848 Thoreau Maine Woods i. (1864) 4 The making of batteaux is quite a business here. 1884 Century Mag. Apr. 826 The bateau which was to carry Mr. Lincoln. 1905 G. E. Cole Early Oregon i. 12 The batteau which was to bring our luggage would not be there for several hours. 1947 Amer. Dial. Soc. Pubn. VIII. 34 Bateau: In southern Virginia this is not a small boat but a flat-bottomed freight boat. |
2. attrib. and Comb., as bateau-mouche, a boat which takes sightseers on the Seine in Paris; bateau (neck-) line, in Dressmaking, a décolletage having a bow-shaped curve from shoulder to shoulder; hence bateau-necked adj.; cf. boat neck(-line).
| 1903 H. James Ambassadors xii. xxxiv. 434 An hour with his present friend on a bateau-mouche. 1923 Daily Mail 20 Feb. 14 The bateau neck-line... This décolletage still retains its popularity. Ibid. 1 Mar. 15 The bateau line is still seen on smart gowns. 1938 W. S. Maugham Summing Up 19, I used to go down with him every Sunday by the Seine on a bateau-mouche. 1959 Times 31 July 8/4 A simple bodice often bateau-necked. 1961 Guardian 30 Mar. 9/3 The very latest knitted jumpers have..bateau necklines. |