carrefour

[ kar-uh-foor, kar-uh-foor ]

noun

1. a crossroads; road junction.
2. a public square, plaza; marketplace.

carrefour

/ ˈkærəˌfɔː /

noun

1. a rare word for crossroads
2. a public square, esp one at the intersection of several roads

Word History and Origins

Origin of carrefour¹

1475–85; < French; earlier quarefour, Middle French quarrefour < Late Latin quadrifurcum, neuter of quadrifurcus with four forks, equivalent to quadri- quadri- + -furcus -forked, adj. derivative of furcus, furca fork

Word History and Origins

Origin of carrefour¹

C15: from Old French quarrefour, ultimately from Latin quadrifurcus having four forks

Example Sentences

About 9 feet wide and 7 feet high, it shows a complicated street intersection, or carrefour, in Paris.

From Washington Post

Is it not the French carrefour, a name applied to more than one place in Guernsey, though not, I believe, necessarily to a spot where four ways meet?

From Project Gutenberg

The grassy roads run beneath the embowering beeches straight from carrefour to carrefour.

From Project Gutenberg

At this moment the baying of the pack was again heard near the carrefour.

From Project Gutenberg

However, on the next day, the horse combat was appointed in the carrefour, by the pine-tree.

From Project Gutenberg