Etymology

bivouac

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Today it means: An encampment for the night, usually without tents or covering. Full definition →

French bivouac ← Alemannic German Biiwacht
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The story

  1. Alemannic German · derived fromBiiwacht“reinforcements of guard or town watch”
  2. French · borrowed frombivouac
  3. English todaybivouac

Unadapted borrowing from French bivouac (earlier biouac, bivac), from Alemannic German Biiwacht (“reinforcements of guard or town watch”), from bii- + Wacht (“watch, guard”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.