boulevard

See also: Boulevard

English

Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris

Etymology

Borrowed from French boulevard, from Middle French boulevard, bollevart, boulevars, bolevers, bollewerc (“rampart”), from Middle High German bolewerc, bolwerc (modern German Bollwerk) or Middle Dutch bolwerk (“bulwark, bastion”). Doublet of bulwark; more at bole, work.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbuː.ləˌvɑːd/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈbʊ.lə.vɑɹd/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Noun

boulevard (plural boulevards, abbreviation blvd. or blvd or bd. or bd or bl)

1. A broad, well-paved and landscaped thoroughfare.

   We live on Sunset Boulevard.

2. The landscaping on the sides of a boulevard or other thoroughfare.
3. A strip of land between a street and sidewalk.
4. (Upper Midwestern US) The grassy area in the middle of some streets; a refuge island.

Derived terms

• bd., bd, bl
• blvd., blvd
• boulevardize
• boulevardlike
• boulevard stop
• Roxas Boulevard
• urban boulevard

Related terms

• boulevardier
• bulwark

Translations

broad, landscaped thoroughfare

• Basque: bulebar
• Catalan: bulevard m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 林蔭大道 / 林荫大道 (zh) (línyīndàdào), 大道 (zh) (dàdào)

• Cornish: rosva f
• Czech: bulvár (cs) m
• Danish: boulevard (da) c
• Dutch: hoofdweg (nl) m, boulevard (nl) m
• Esperanto: bulvardo, aleo (eo)
• Estonian: puiestee
• Finnish: bulevardi (fi), puistokatu (fi)
• French: boulevard (fr) m
• Georgian: ბულვარი (bulvari), პროსპექტი (ṗrosṗekṭi), გამზირი (ka) (gamziri)
• German: Boulevard (de) m, Prachtstraße (de) f
• Greek: λεωφόρος (el) f (leofóros)
• Hebrew: שְׂדֵרָה (he) f (sderá)
• Hindi: बुलेवार m (bulevār)
• Hungarian: körút (hu)
• Ido: bulvardo (io)
• Irish: búlbhard m
• Italian: viale (it) m
• Japanese: 大通り (ja) (おおどおり, ōdōri), ブールバード (būrubādo)
• Kazakh: желекжол (jelekjol)
• Khmer: មហាវិថី (mɔhaa vi’tʰǝy)
• Latvian: bulvāris m
• Macedonian: булева́р m (bulevár), бул. m (bul.)
• Malay: boulevard (ms)
• Norwegian: bulevard
• Persian: بولوار (fa) (bulvâr)
• Polish: bulwar (pl) m, aleja (pl) f
• Portuguese: alameda (pt) f (Brazil), bulevar (pt) m
• Romanian: bulevard (ro) n
• Russian: бульва́р (ru) m (bulʹvár), проспе́кт (ru) m (prospékt)
• Slovak: bulvár (sk) m
• Spanish: bulevar (es) m, boulevard m, bulevard m
• Swedish: bulevard
• Tagalog: bulebar
• Turkish: bulvar (tr)
• Vietnamese: đại lộ (vi), đường lớn

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from French boulevard, borrowed from Middle Dutch bolwerk (“bulwark, bastion”). Doublet of bolværk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [b̥uləˈʋɑˀd̥]

Noun

boulevard c (singular definite boulevarden, plural indefinite boulevarder)

1. boulevard

Declension

Declension of boulevard

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	boulevard	boulevarden	boulevarder	boulevarderne
genitive	boulevards	boulevardens	boulevarders	boulevardernes

References

• “boulevard” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French boulevard, from Middle French bolevard, from Middle Dutch bolwerc (modern Dutch bolwerk).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌbu.ləˈvaːr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bou‧le‧vard

Noun

boulevard m (plural boulevards, diminutive boulevardje n)

1. boulevard

Derived terms

• meubelboulevard
• woonboulevard

Descendants

• → Indonesian: bulevar

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French boulevard, bollevart, boulevars, bolevers, bollewerc (“rampart”), from Middle High German bolewerc, bolwerc (modern German Bollwerk) or Middle Dutch bolwerk (“bulwark, bastion”). The use for a road is due to the fact that boulevards (e.g. in Paris) were built on the sites of razed bulwarks.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bul.vaʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

boulevard m (plural boulevards)

1. bulwark, rampart
2. boulevard, avenue
3. causeway

Derived terms

• bd, Bd, Bld, brd, bvd (Europe)
• boul., boul (Quebec)
• Boulevard du crime
• boulevardier
• Grands Boulevards
• théâtre de boulevard

Descendants

• → Dutch: boulevard
• → English: boulevard
• → Italian: boulevard
• → Japanese: ブールバード
• → Russian: бульвар (bulʹvar)
  • → Georgian: ბულვარი (bulvari)
• → Portuguese: bulevar, boulevard
• → Spanish: bulevar, boulevard
• → Swedish: boulevard, bulevard
• → Turkish: bulvar

References

James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Boulevard”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.

Further reading

• “boulevard”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French boulevard.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu.leˈvar/, (careful style) /bulˈvar/
• Rhymes: -ar

Noun

boulevard m

1. boulevard
2. (archaic) embankment

Norman

Etymology

From Old French bollevart (“promenade, avenue, rampart”), from German Bollwerk or Middle Dutch.

Noun

boulevard m (plural boulevards)

1. (Jersey) bulwark

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French boulevard.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /bu.leˈvaʁ/ [bu.leˈvah]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /bu.leˈvaʁ/ [bu.leˈvah]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /bu.leˈvaɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /bu.leˈvaʁ/ [bu.leˈvaχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /bu.leˈvaɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /bu.lɨˈvaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /bu.lɨˈvaɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bu.lɨˈbaɾ/ [bu.lɨˈβaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bu.lɨˈva.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: bou‧le‧vard

Noun

boulevard m (plural boulevards)

1. unadapted form of bulevar

Usage notes

• This unadapted borrowing is typically printed with italic type.

Further reading

• “boulevard”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “boulevard”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “boulevard”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “boulevard”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Middle High German bolewercbor.

Middle Dutch bolwerkbor.

Middle French boulevard

French boulevardubor.

Spanish boulevard

Unadapted borrowing from French boulevard. Doublet of baluarte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bulˈbaɾ/ [bulˈβ̞aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: boule‧vard

Noun

boulevard m (plural boulevards)

1. alternative form of bulevar

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “boulevard”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• “boulevard”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española]; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2023, →ISBN
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “boulevard”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA

Swedish

Alternative forms

• bulevard (obsolete spelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from French boulevard. Doublet of bålverk.

Noun

boulevard c

1. a boulevard (long, wide (tree-lined) street, especially in Paris)

Declension

Declension of boulevard

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	boulevard	boulevards
	definite	boulevarden	boulevardens
plural	indefinite	boulevarder	boulevarders
	definite	boulevarderna	boulevardernas

References

• “boulevard”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “boulevard”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• bulevard in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)