perdu

• perdue

Borrowed from Middle French perdu, originally after sentinelle perdue.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pəːˈdjuː/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Rhymes: -uː

perdu (not comparable)

1. (obsolete, military) Stationed in an exposed or hazardous position; hidden in ambush. Originally as sentinel perdu. [17th–19th c.]
   • c. 1616–1619 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Loyal Svbiect”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act I, scene i:

     a perdue captain

2. (now rare) In a dangerous situation; lost, desperate. [from 17th c.]
   • 1924, Herman Melville, chapter 7, in Billy Budd‎, London: Constable & Co.:

     Among certain grizzled sea-gossips of the gun decks and forecastle went a rumor perdue […]

3. (now rare) Hidden; concealed from sight. Chiefly with lie. [from 17th c.]
   • 1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […], →OCLC:

     He should lie Perdue who is to walk the round.

   • 1792, Charlotte Smith, Desmond, Broadview, published 2001, page 346:

     I stood perdu behind Mr Grimbold; a tall personage, whose broad shoulders, however, just permitted me to peep over at the Major, who had not yet espied me.

perdu (plural perdus)

1. One placed on watch, or in ambush.
2. A soldier sent on a forlorn hope.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii], line 35:

     To watch, poor perdu, / With this thin helm?

• Dupre, Prude, drupe, duper, prude, pured, red up, red-up

perdu

1. imperative of perdi

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁ.dy/

• Audio

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• Audio (Switzerland)

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• Homophones: perdue, perdus, perdues

perdu (feminine perdue, masculine plural perdus, feminine plural perdues)

1. past participle of perdre

perdu (feminine perdue, masculine plural perdus, feminine plural perdues)

1. lost

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

• drupe, duper

Borrowed from French perdu.

• Audio

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perdu (strong nominative masculine singular perduer, not comparable)

1. lost

• “perdu” in Duden online
• “perdu” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

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

• IPA^(key): [pərˈdu]
• Hyphenation: pêr‧du

pêrdu (first-person possessive perduku, second-person possessive perdumu, third-person possessive perdunya)

1. shrub: a woody plant smaller than a tree, and usually with several stems from the same base.
2. clump (of trees), cluster

   Synonym: rumpun

• “perdu” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.