maquis

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French maquis, from Corsican machja (related to Italian macchia), ultimately from Latin macula. Doublet of macula.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmakiː/, /maˈkiː/

Noun

maquis (uncountable)

1. (botany) Dense Mediterranean coastal scrub. [from 19th c.]
   • 2007 May 27, Alida Becker, “Season in the Sun”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     The older man claims to find a measure of peace in Corsica’s wild landscape, and as Mitchell explores the foothills of maquis, fragrant with “the sharp resinous smell of laurel rose and thyme,” he too succumbs.

2. (historical) The French resistance movement during World War II, or other similar movements elsewhere. [from 1940s]
   • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 75:

     By this time O.S. membership numbered some 4,500, and many of those who escaped imprisonment either fled abroad or formed the nucleus of a growing maquis in the more inaccessible parts of the country.

   • 1983 December 3, Gary Ralph, “No Security for Those Who Never Had It”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 20, page 5:

     For many weeks after I finished Bodyguard of Lies, Alan Turing stuck in my mind. He seemed so incongruous a figure to be mixed up with the cut-throat maquis and sinister double-agents who populated the rest of the book.

Translations

vegetation

• Catalan: màquia (ca) f
• Esperanto: makiso
• French: maquis (fr) m
• Greek: θαμνώνες m pl (thamnónes)
• Marathi: माकी (mākī)
• Portuguese: maquis m

Anagrams

• umiaqs

Catalan

Verb

maquis

1. second-person singular present subjunctive of macar

French

Etymology

From Corsican machja or macchia, from Latin macula (“spot”), with addition of the suffix -is.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.ki/

Noun

maquis m (plural maquis)

1. (botany) macchia (Mediterranean brush)
2. (botany) thicket

   Synonym: broussaille

3. (figuratively, historical, military) resistance, underground (movement during World War II)

   Synonym: guérilla

Derived terms

• maquisard
• prendre le maquis

Descendants

• → English: maquis
• → Portuguese: maquis
• → Spanish: maquis

Further reading

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

Indonesian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French maquis (“resistance, underground”, literally “thicket; macchia”), from Corsican machja or macchia, from Latin macula (“spot”).

Noun

maquis

1. (historical) maquis: The French resistance movement during World War II, or other similar movements elsewhere.

Further reading

• “maquis” 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.

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• maqui

Etymology

Borrowed from French maquis, from Corsican macchia, from Vulgar Latin *macla, from Latin macula. Doublet of mancha, malha, mágoa, mangra, and mácula.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈkis/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈkis/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /maˈkiʃ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐˈkiʃ/

• Hyphenation: ma‧quis

Noun

maquis m (invariable)

1. maquis; macchia (type of brushland common in Corsica)

Noun

maquis m or f by sense (invariable)

1. maquis (member of the French resistance during the Second World War)

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French maquis.

Noun

maquis n (plural maquis-uri)

1. maquis, macchia

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	maquis	maquisul		maquis-uri	maquis-urile
genitive-dative	maquis	maquisului		maquis-uri	maquis-urilor
vocative	maquisule			maquis-urilor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French maquis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmakis/ [ˈma.kis]

Noun

maquis m or f by sense (plural maquis)

1. maquis (Resistance during the Second World War)
2. maquis (member of the Resistance during the Second World War)

Further reading

• “maquis”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10