sapeur

English

Etymology

From French sapeur.

Noun

sapeur (plural sapeurs)

1. (Africa) A member of the social movement known as La Sape, who dress as dandies and put great emphasis on style and physical appearance.
   • 2002, Frank Tenaille, translated by Steven Toussaint and Hope Sandrine, Music Is the Weapon of the Future: Fifty Years of African Popular Music, Chicago, IL: Lawrence Hill Books, →ISBN, page 182:

     For these sapeurs, the essential thing was to dress elegantly, with name-brand clothes made by famous designers if possible.

   • 2020 July 27, Trey Kay, “Congolese dandies: Meet the stylish men and women of Brazzaville”, in The Guardian‎, London: The Guardian Media Group, retrieved 2020-10-01:

     Since the 1920s, the sapeurs of the Congo have been making sartorial statements on the streets of Brazzaville and Kinshasa.

Anagrams

• pauser

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sa.pœʁ/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle French sappeur. By surface analysis, saper +‎ -eur.

Noun

sapeur m (plural sapeurs)

1. (military) sapper

Derived terms

• fumer comme un sapeur

Etymology 2

From sape +‎ -eur. In the context of La Sape, the word is also treated as an initialism of Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes ("Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People").

Noun

sapeur m (plural sapeurs, feminine sapeuse)

1. (Africa) a member of the social movement known as La Sape, who dress as dandies and put great emphasis on style and physical appearance

Further reading

• “sapeur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Norman

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

sapeur m (plural sapeurs)

1. (Jersey, military) sapper