bonjour

See also: Bonjour

English

Clothing with bonjour text

Alternative forms

• bon jour

Etymology

Borrowed from French bonjour (“good afternoon/good day/good morning”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: bôn-zho͝or′, bôɴ-zho͝or′
• (Received Pronunciation)
  • (without the pour–poor merger) IPA^(key): /bɒnˈʒʊə/, /bɒ̃ˈʒʊə/, /bɒnˈd͡ʒʊə/
  • (pour–poor merger) IPA^(key): /bɒnˈd͡ʒɔː/, /bɒnˈʒɔː/

  • Audio (Southern England); /bɒnˈd͡ʒɔː/:

    (file)

• (General American)
  • (without the pour–poor merger) IPA^(key): /bɑnˈʒʊəɹ/, /bɑnˈd͡ʒʊəɹ/, /bɔnˈʒʊɹ/, /bɔ̃ˈʒʊɹ/
  • (pour–poor merger) IPA^(key): /bɑnˈd͡ʒoɹ/, /bɑnˈʒoɹ/
• Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ), -ɔː(ɹ)

Interjection

bonjour

1. (in French contexts) Good morning; hello.
   • 2008 May 4, Alexandra Jacobs, “Blame the Messager”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 December 2021:

     Say bonjour to the botched R.S.V.P. The practice of replying to invitations, let alone actually showing up to parties as promised, has become as antiquated as the chimney sweep, and much messier.

Translations

hello — see hello

Verb

bonjour (third-person singular simple present bonjours, present participle bonjouring, simple past and past participle bonjoured)

1. (ambitransitive) To greet in French with "bonjour".
   • 1938, Donald Barr Chidsey, Each one was alone:

     He went on down the boulevard, bonjouring right and left, lifting his hat, bowing. He moved very slowly.

   • 1988, Gary Hart, The Strategies of Zeus:

     Connaughton entered the simple but cheery restaurant, checked his coat, bonjoured the maître d'...

   • 2005, James H Irwin, Mokanshan: A Tale of Wallis Simpson's Naughty Shanghai Postcards:

     They bonjoured back and stood there awkwardly. Finally, Flood broke the silence.

Further reading

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “bonjour”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 622, column 2.
• “bonjour”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French bonjour, from Old French bon jor (literally “good day”). By surface analysis, bon (“good”) +‎ jour (“day”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/
  • (France) IPA^(key): [bõ.ʒuə̯ʁ]

    • Audio (Paris):

      (file)

  • (Quebec) IPA^(key): [bɒ̃ʊ̯̃.ʒʊu̯ʁ]
  • (Louisiana) IPA^(key): [bɔ̃.ʒo(ɾ)]

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Homophone: Bonjour

Noun

bonjour m (plural bonjours)

1. greetings; hello (general salutation)

   Tu passeras le bonjour à ta mère !

   Tell your mother I said hi.

   (literally, “You will pass a hello to your mother!”)

Interjection

bonjour

1. good day; good afternoon

   Bonjour, mon ami !

   Good day, friend!

   Bonjour, monsieur le Président !

   Good afternoon, Mr. President!

2. (North America) goodbye

Synonyms

• salut (familiar)
• bonjour/hi (Montréal)
• beaujour (Missouri)
• boujou (Normandy)

Antonyms

• au revoir

Derived terms

• bonjour les dégâts
• bonjourer
• rebonjour
• simple comme bonjour

Related terms

• bonne année
• bonne journée
• bonne nuit
• bonsoir

Descendants

• Antillean Creole: bonjou
• Haitian Creole: bonjou
• Louisiana Creole: bonjou
• Mauritian Creole: bonzour
• → Alemannic German: buschur
• → English: bonjour

Further reading

• “bonjour”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French bonjour (“greetings; hello”).

Noun

bonjour (plural bonjour-bonjour)

1. greetings; hello

   Synonym: selamat

Further reading

• “bonjour”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016