embouteillage

traffic jam

noun ahn-boo-teh-YAZH Rare

Origin: From embouteiller (to bottle up), from en- + bouteille (bottle)

Also means

bottleneck

Usage Note

Embouteillage literally 'bottling up' captures the image of traffic squeezed to a stop. The plural embouteillages is very common in weather/traffic reports — bouchon is the shorter synonym. The verb embouteiller also means to bottle (wine), making it a productive double metaphor.

Examples

"Il y a un embouteillage sur le périphérique."

Natural Translation

There is a traffic jam on the ring road.

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