colle

See also: col·le, collé, and Colle

English

Noun

colle (countable and uncountable, plural colles)

1. Obsolete form of coal.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: col, collent, colles, cols, khôlle

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin colla, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla, “glue”). Compare Italian colla, Portuguese and Spanish cola.

Noun

colle f (plural colles)

1. glue
2. (France, education) oral examination at a prépa or during the PASS

   Synonym: khôlle

   • 2010, Alexandre Devaux, Tout ce qu'il faut savoir sur la prépa scientifique, Dunod, →ISBN, page 79:

     La khôlle (ou colle) est une interrogation orale d’une heure devant un tableau. On vous donne un exercice et vous avez pour mission de le résoudre (même si ce n’est pas le plus important).

     The khôlle (or colle) is an hour-long oral examination in front of a blackboard. You are given an exercise and your mission is to solve it (although solving it is not the most important thing).

3. (by extension, figurative) conundrum, stumper (difficult question)

   poser une colle ― to ask a toughie

4. (school slang) detention

Derived terms

• coller
• pot de colle
• poser une colle
• sous-khôlle

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

colle

1. inflection of coller:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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

Galician

Verb

colle

1. inflection of coller:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Italian

Etymology 1

From Latin collem (“hill”). Cognate with English hill.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔl.le/
• Rhymes: -ɔlle
• Hyphenation: còl‧le

Noun

colle m (plural colli)

1. (geomorphology) hill
2. pass (through hills)

Related terms

• collina

Further reading

• colle¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• colle² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔl.le/
• Rhymes: -ɔlle
• Hyphenation: còl‧le

Noun

colle f

1. plural of colla

Etymology 3

Contraction of con +‎ le.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkol.le/, /ˌko.le/
• Rhymes: -olle, -ole
• Hyphenation: cól‧le

Contraction

colle

1. (dated) Contraction of con le; with the

Usage notes

• While in use in the spoken language, its use is somewhat old-fashioned in the written language.

Further reading

• colle in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• -cello

Latin

Noun

colle

1. ablative singular of collis

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ).

Noun

colle oblique singular, f (oblique plural colles, nominative singular colle, nominative plural colles)

1. bile (bodily fluid)