Thursday word: dégagé

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

degage or dégagé (day-gah-ZHAY) - adj., free and relaxed in manner; showing a lack of emotional involvement.


Also a technical term in ballet ("a movement in which weight is shifted from one foot to the other in preparation for the execution of a step") but I'm ignoring that. As you might expect, this was adopted from French, in the 1690s in this case, from the past participle of dégager, to release/set free, from Old French desg(u)agier, to redeem a pledge, making it related to the archaic meaning of gage as a pledge -- such as the glove thrown down during a challenge to a duel. Only, of course, in the sense of not having one.

She had a graceful and dégagé manner that was quite winning.

---L.

Comments

[theidolhands.livejournal.com]

Never run across this word before, it's fun to say and I can think of a few people it would apply well to where another word wouldn't fit as well.

Thanks! (I really do wish they'd bring back that glove = duel thing)

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

I can't say I'm fond of dueling, or the social structures needed to support the institution of same.

[theidolhands.livejournal.com]

Ha, ha, that remark issued it's own heavily implied snobbery!

Goodness me, someone really ought to remove those old Looney Tune shows where I first happened on it!

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

True, that. Was composed and posted hastily.