brique

See also: briqué

French

Etymology

Of Germanic origin, from Middle Low German bricke and Middle Dutch brike, related to breken (“to break”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʁik/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

brique f (plural briques)

1. brick (hardened block used for building)
2. carton box (food packaging)

   une brique de lait ― a milk carton

3. (informal) doorstop (thick, massive book, large book)

   Synonym: pavé

4. (slang, dated) ten thousand French francs (one million old francs, ~1524 euros)

   Synonyms: plaque, bâton, patate

   • 1994, Yasmina Reza, ‘Art’:

     Marc: […] Un garçon aisé mais qui ne roule pas sur l’or. Aisé sans plus, aisé bon. Qui achète un tableau blanc vingt briques.

     Marc: […] A boy who is well-off but not rolling in it. Well-off, but no more than that, simply well-off. The type to buy a blank canvas for 200 grand [i.e. 200,000 francs, about 30,000 euros].

Derived terms

• avoir une brique dans le ventre

Descendants

• → Catalan: bric

Further reading

• “brique”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• brique on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fr

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from English brick, French brique.

Noun

brique f (plural briques)

1. (Jersey) brick

Portuguese

Etymology

From earlier bricabraque, borrowed from French bric-à-brac.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾi.ki/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾi.ki/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾi.ke/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾi.kɨ/

• Hyphenation: bri‧que

Noun

brique m (plural briques)

1. (South Brazil, colloquial) exchange (an act of exchanging or trading something for another thing)

   Synonyms: troca, permuta, câmbio, intercâmbio