hôtel-Dieu

== English == === Alternative forms === hotel-Dieu === Etymology === Borrowed from French hôtel-Dieu. === Noun === hôtel-Dieu (plural hôtels-Dieu or hôtel-Dieus) (historical) The chief hospital in a French city. === References === A Glossary of Ecclesiastical Terms‎[1], 1972, page 240 == French == === Etymology === From Old French ostel Deu (literally “God’s hostel”), stressing the charitable nature (although hospitals were then invariably religious). The construction, instead of expected hôtel de Dieu, is a relict of an Old French oblique case form in genitive function; another such example is Fête-Dieu. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /o.tɛl.djø/ === Noun === hôtel-Dieu m (plural hôtels-Dieu) a name borne by certain hospitals of long tradition, most notably the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris (history) any caritative hospice or hospital === References === “hôtel”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012