rideau

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rideau^¹

/ɹiˈdəʊ/

Rhymes with -əʊ

Where it comes from

Borrowed from French rideau (“curtain”), from Middle French rideau, from Old French ridel (“plaited stuff; cloth curtain; blind”), from rider (“to plait; to wrinkle”), perhaps from Old High German ridil (“a headband; a ribbon”) or rīdan, wrīdan (“to wrinkle”) (related to English writhe), from Proto-Germanic *wriþilaz, from *wrīþaną (“to twist, wind, wrap”). See more at riddle (“curtain”), writhe.

noun rideaus · rideaux

A fortification or barrier such as a small earthen mound or ridge, a file of troops, etc. A judgment may be formed of the weakness of the place, either by the facility found in making the approaches, or by establishing the magazines in the rear of the trenches, taking advantage of some rideau, or hollow way, whereby the right and left of the trenches are better supported. In order to jud

Rideau^²

proper noun Rideaus

countable, uncountable A surname.
countable, uncountable A river in eastern Ontario, Canada, a tributary of the Ottawa River.

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MLA

"rideau." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rideau. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rideau. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rideau

Chicago

"rideau." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rideau.

BibTeX

@misc{rideau_2026,
  title = {rideau},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rideau},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}