boulanger

From Middle French boulanger, from Old French boulanger, bolengier (“baker”), from Old Picard boulenc (“bun-maker, bread-maker”), of Germanic origin, from Low Frankish *bolla (“bun”), from Proto-Germanic *bullǭ, *bullô (“ball, bowl, round object”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to inflate, swell”) + -enc (“-ing”), from Frankish *-ing (“-ing”), from Proto-Germanic *-ingaz (“-ing”). Cognate with Old High German bolla (“fine wheat flour”), Middle Dutch bolle (“bun, round bread”), Middle High German bolle (“bud, spherical vessel”), Danish bolle (“bun, bread”), Old English bolle, bolla (“bowl, cup, pot, measure”). More at bowl, -ing.

• IPA^(key): /bu.lɑ̃.ʒe/

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boulanger m (plural boulangers, feminine boulangère)

1. baker

• boulangerie

boulanger

1. (rare) to prepare and bake bread

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written boulange- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a “soft” /ʒ/ and not a “hard” /ɡ/). This spelling-change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.

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