Morning all! It feels like ages since I last did a vocab post and that one had a bit of an architectural theme. Over the last few weeks, I’ve spent some time reading about the enthralling (ahem) history of the water system in the north of Paris and the incredible 19th century sewers. As a result there are now a few water-related words in my dictionary-check notebook.

Here are my nine favourite new words from everything I’ve looked up recently.

Dunette nf – poop deck (nautical)

Fosse nf – grave, pit, sandpit (sport)

Fiacre nm – (hackney) cab, carriage

Jaillir v – to spurt out, to gush (liquid). To flow (tears). To flash on (light).

Dalle nf – paving stone, slab, flagstone (pavement)

Glaise nf – clay

Lanternon nm – another word for lanterneau – lantern, skylight

Moisson nf – harvest

Ruisseler v – to stream (light/liquid), to flow, stream (liquid)

By the way, if you’re going to Paris or are there already and want to know more about the sewers, there’s a stinky but brilliant Sewer Museum that I wrote a post about last year.