Skip to content

roseau

reed

noun roh-ZOH Rare
Animals & Nature Plants

Origin: Old French roisel, from Latin arundo

Usage Note

Le roseau is the common reed (Phragmites australis), central to French literary culture through La Fontaine's fable 'Le Chêne et le Roseau' (The Oak and the Reed), a lesson in flexibility over rigidity. The plural is roseaux. Reeds were historically used to make writing quills and musical instruments like pan pipes (flûte de Pan).

Examples

"Des roseaux poussent au bord du lac."

Natural Translation

Reeds grow at the edge of the lake.

Explore French by topic