Table of Contents
The word for today is…
tumbrel (noun):
1 : a farm tipcart
2 : a vehicle carrying condemned persons (such as political prisoners during the French Revolution) to a place of execution
Source : Online Etymology Dictionary
Etymology : mid-15c., “two-wheeled cart for hauling dung, stones, etc.,” earlier an instrument of punishment of uncertain type (early 13c.), from Old French tomberel “dump cart” (Modern French tombereau), from tomber “(let) fall or tumble,” possibly from a Germanic source (compare Old Norse tumba “to tumble,” Old High German tumon “to turn, reel;” ). Notoriously the name given to the carts used to take victims to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror – though illustrations often show four-wheeled carts, not true tumbrels
If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.
