pensionnat

boarding school

noun pahn-syoh-NAH Rare

Usage Note

Pensionnat denotes a school where students both study and live, often with connotations of stricter discipline or religious affiliation. The more common synonym is internat. A student who boards is called a pensionnaire. The word is encountered frequently in 19th- and early-20th-century French literature.

Examples

"Il a passé cinq ans dans un pensionnat catholique."

Natural Translation

He spent five years in a Catholic boarding school.

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