Bocage is a Norman word which has entered both the French and English languages. It may refer to a small forest, a decorative element of leaves, a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture, or a type of rubble-work, comparable with the English use of 'rustic' in relation to garden ornamentation.
Contents |
Etymology [link]
Bocage probably derives from the Norman French word boscage, from the Old French root bosc ("wood"), which today in place names is pronounced [bɔk] or [bo]. The boscage form was used in English for leafy decoration such as is found on eighteenth-century porcelain. Similar words occur in Scandinavian (cf. Swedish buskage) and other Germanic languages; the original root is thought to be the proto-German "bosk". The boscage form seems to have developed its meaning under the influence of eighteenth-century romanticism.
The bocage form of the word came to English notice during the Second World War. It refers to a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture, with fields and winding country lanes sunken between narrow low ridges and banks surmounted by tall thick hedgerows that break the wind but also limit visibility. It is the sort of landscape found in England in Devon. In Normandy, it acquired a particular significance during the Battle of Normandy, as it made progress against the German defenders difficult. American personnel usually referred to bocage as "hedgerows".
The 1934 Nouveau Petit Larousse defined bocage as 'a bosquet, a little wood, an agreeably shady wood' and a bosquet as a little wood, a clump of trees'. By 2006, the Petit Larousse definition had become '(Norman word) Region where the fields and meadows are enclosed by earth banks carrying hedges or rows of trees and where the habitation is generally dispersed in farms and hamlets.'
Other uses [link]
Bocage can also refer to:
- Villers-Bocage
- Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage, Portuguese poet (1765–1805)
- José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage, Portuguese zoologist and politician (1823–1907)
See also [link]
References [link]
- Oxford English Dictionary
- Nouveau Petit Larousse Illustré (1934)
- Petit Larousse Illustré 2007 (2006)
External links [link]
https://wn.com/Bocage
Bocage (disambiguation)
Bocage refers to a type of French countryside.
Bocage can also refer to:
Bocage (actor)
Pierre-Martinien Tousez, better known by his stage name Bocage, (Rouen, November 11, 1799–Paris, August 30, 1862) was a French actor.
Born into a poor family of laborers, Bocage was, early on, forced to work in a weaving factory in order to earn an income. Having learned how to read and write without going to school, he began to read, from an early age, the works of Shakespeare. He had an opportunity to get on the stage, and he decided to head on to Paris on foot, in order to fulfill his dreams of being an actor. There he entered the Paris Conservatoire, but had to leave it because his financial resources could not afford him the cost of tuition.
Handsome, talented but undisciplined, he went through a difficult start and had to spend several years on obscure provincial stages, before he joined the cast of the Porte Saint-Martin. In Paris, he was attached to the various dramatic theaters, and became extremely popular as a major interpreter of romantic creations: Antony, Marion Delorme, The Tour de Nesle, Don Juan de Marana, etc. He acted with great distinction and a passionate energy.
