Meanings
- countableuncountableA French liqueur made at Poissy in north central France from brandy and flavoured with almonds and the pits of apricots.First known use 18th c.
His coffee was excellent, and then came a case of liqueurs, noyau both white and red, etc.
1792, James Boswell, in Danziger & Brady (eds.), Boswell: The Great Biographer (Journals 1789–1795), Yale 1989, p. 178 - countableethologyA small nucleus or core group of people or animals.First known use 20th c.
This "noyau" pattern is found among various nocturnal strepsirrhines.
2000, Sergio M. Pellis, Andrew N. Iwaniuk, “Adult-Adult Play in Primates: Comparative Analyses of Its Origin, Distribution and Evolution”, in Ethology, 106, page 10892 more examples
Borders are violated by hungering males and famished females, and the ordered animosities of the noyau give way to a saturnalia of sexual adventure.
1966 August 26, Richard Ardrey, “Strongest Bond of All - The Space We Own”, in LIFE, page 58The orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) also exhibits the noyau system and appears to be the only diurnal primate with a largely solitary lifestyle.
1999, Ronald M. Nowak, Walker's Primates of the World, JHU Press, →ISBN, page 27
Origin
- Late Latinnucālis“nut-like”
- Early Medieval Latinnōdellus“buckle”
- Old Frenchnoel
- Middle Frenchnoyau
- Frenchnoyau
- Englishnoyau
Borrowed from French noyau, from Middle French noyau, from Old French noel, from either Early Medieval Latin nōdellus (“buckle”) or Late Latin nucālis (“nut-like”). Doublet of newel and noil.
More words from French, Middle French, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
noyau. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noyau
“noyau.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noyau. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “noyau,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noyau.
Source: noyau on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.