bénard

adjectivecommon noun

Syllable Decomposition

bénard

Etymology

from bernard, an old adjective meaning 'foolish, silly', itself derived from bernard, the name of the donkey in the Roman de Renart.

Definition

1. It was said of a lock that could be opened from the outside as well as from the inside, and of the key that corresponded to it. This lock, considered easy to force open, was called a 'bernarde'.flags.vieilli

See also

bénardes (adj.) bénarde (adj.) bénards (adj.) bénards (cn.)