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aboiteau
[< Cdn F]
Maritimes
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Spelling variants:abatteau, aboideau
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
The etymology of aboiteau has not been satisfactorily explained. The following quotations are offered as examples of suggested origins:
Quotations
1898
I have always understood that the word "aboideau" came from the French words "aboi," "d'eau"; "aboi"-- to keep at bay, "d'eau"--the water. It is a poetical expression taken from hunting--the moose keeping the dogs at bay. . . .
1898
Possibly, [aboideau] . . . was "une boîte d'eau," but more probably "à la boîte d'eau," or "à boîte d'eau"--at the water-box . . . .
1898
I came to the conclusion that [aboideau] is a condensation of . . . "l'abée d'eau." Abée is a well-established old French word, whose meaning is a mill-dam, or, simply, a dam.
1n.
a dike (def. 1) or dam equipped with a gate which functions as a valve releasing flood water from behind but preventing sea water from entering at high tide.
Quotations
1708
[On n'arrête pas le cours de la Mer aisément; cependant les Acadiens en viennent à bout par de puissantes Digues qu'ils appelent des Aboteaux. . . .]
1825
Before half an hour the violence of the water washed away with a fearful rapidity the complete side of the abatteau and left the other a shattered and disfigured monument to their enterprise.
1957
Beyond Avonport Station, we cross an aboiteau and reach the sands at Oak Bluffs.
2n.
the sluice-gate, or valve, arrangement in the dike.
Quotations
1899
The dyke and aboideau served the purpose of shutting out the tide from about 600 acres of marsh.
1960
The English apparently learned from the Acadians the special arts of building dikes and aboiteaux.