Meanings
nounpensionnaire (plural pensionnaires)
plural pensionnaires · alternative pensionaire
- Someone who boards at a lodging-house, school, or other institution; a boarder, especially in France or other European countries.First known use 18th c.
[H]e found she had not taken the veil; but her mother being lately dead, had entered as a pensionaire, until her family-affairs could be adjusted.
1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC - A junior member of the Comédie Française.First known use 19th c.
Origin
- Middle Frenchpensionnaire
- Englishpensionnaire
From Middle French pensionnaire, pensionaire.
More words from Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
pensionnaire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pensionnaire
MLA
“pensionnaire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pensionnaire. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pensionnaire,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pensionnaire.
Source: pensionnaire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.