know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful
syllabication: cul-de-sac
pronunciation: kld-sk, kl-
noun: Inflected forms: pl. culs-de-sac (klz-, klz-) or cul-de-sacs (kl-)
1. Anatomy A saclike cavity or tube open only at one end. 2. A dead-end street: “This was the cul-de-sac the year kept driving me toward: men and women would always be at odds” (Philip Weiss).
etymology: 1738, as an anatomical term, from Fr., lit. "bottom of a sack," from L. culus "bottom"; French : cul, bottom (from Old French, from Latin clus; see culet) + de, of (from Old French, from Latin d; see de-) + sac, sack (from Old French, from Latin saccus; see sack1). Application to streets and alleys is from 1800.
Voltaire (née François-Marie Arouet) considered the term cul-de-sac to be unbearably vulgar, and suggested the use of impasse instead.
pronunciation: kld-sk, kl-
noun: Inflected forms: pl. culs-de-sac (klz-, klz-) or cul-de-sacs (kl-)
1. Anatomy A saclike cavity or tube open only at one end. 2. A dead-end street: “This was the cul-de-sac the year kept driving me toward: men and women would always be at odds” (Philip Weiss).
etymology: 1738, as an anatomical term, from Fr., lit. "bottom of a sack," from L. culus "bottom"; French : cul, bottom (from Old French, from Latin clus; see culet) + de, of (from Old French, from Latin d; see de-) + sac, sack (from Old French, from Latin saccus; see sack1). Application to streets and alleys is from 1800.
Voltaire (née François-Marie Arouet) considered the term cul-de-sac to be unbearably vulgar, and suggested the use of impasse instead.