Word of the Day

: July 28, 2021

bivouac

verb BIV-uh-wak

What It Means

1 : to make a temporary encampment under little or no shelter

2 : to take shelter often temporarily

3 : to provide temporary quarters for

bivouac in Context

The climbers bivouacked under the cliff's ledge.

"Bivouacked in the middle of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf—a five-hour flight from the nearest Antarctic station—nothing comes easy. Even though it was the southern summer, geologist James Smith of the British Antarctic Survey endured nearly three months of freezing temperatures, sleeping in a tent, and eating dehydrated food." — Matt Simon, Wired, 15 Feb. 2021

Did You Know?

In his 1841 dictionary, Noah Webster observed bivouac to be a French borrowing having military origins. He defined the noun bivouac as "the guard or watch of a whole army, as in cases of great danger of surprise or attack" and the verb as "to watch or be on guard, as a whole army." The French word is derived from the Low German word biwacht, which translates to "by guard." Germans used the word specifically for a patrol of citizens who assisted the town watch at night. Today, bivouac has less to do with guarding and patrolling than it does with taking shelter.