Finnish

Noun

abeille

1. Allative plural form of abi.

French

Etymology

From Middle French abeille, from Old Provençal abelha, from Latin apicula.

Pronunciation

• (Paris) IPA^(key): /a.bɛj/
• (Montreal) IPA^(key): /a.bɛːj/
• (une abeille, des abeilles) IPA^(key): [y.ˈna.bɛːj.de.ˈza.bɛːj]
• Homophone: abeilles

Noun

abeille f ‎(plural abeilles)

A honey bee (abeille) collecting pollen

A solitary bee (abeille)

1. bee, honeybee
   • 1874, Victor Hugo, Quatre-Vingt-Treize:

     Alors, contentez-vous du travail comme le fourmis, et miel comme l’abeille.

     So be happy with work, like the ant, and honey, like the bee.

   • 2012, Anne-Marie Duquette, L'Action, 10 Sep 2012:

     Chaque ruche, en ce début d'automne, abrite quelque 15 000 abeilles, le «pic» de 50 000 étant atteint vers juillet, la reine pouvant pondre jusqu'à 1500 oeufs par jour.

     Each hive, at the start of autumn, houses some 15,000 bees, with a peak of 50,000 reached by July, the queen laying up to 1,500 eggs per day.

2. (figuratively) A writer whose style is considered pure like honey.

Synonyms

• mouche à miel

Hypernyms

honey bee

insect of order hymenoptera

• hyménoptère
• insecte
• mandibulate
• arthropode
• animal, métazoaire

Derived terms

Related terms

• apicole
• apiculteur
• apiculture

See also

References

• “abeille” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• bâillée

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Occitan abelha, from Latin apicula, diminutive of apis ‎(“bee”). The native development of apis survived into Old French as ef, later és.

Noun

abeille f (plural abeilles)

1. honey bee (Apis mellifera).

Synonyms

• avete
• mousche-à-miel

See also

• miel
• rusche

Descendants

• French: abeille