coureur de bois

American  

[koo-rœr duh bwah] / ku rœr də ˈbwɑ /

noun

French.

plural

coureurs de bois

1. a French or French-Indian trapper of North America, especially of Canada.

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coureur de bois British  

/ kurœr də bwa /

noun

1. Canadian history a French Canadian woodsman or Métis who traded with Indians for furs

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Etymology

Origin of coureur de bois

Literally, “runner, hunter of (the) woods”

Example Sentences

When Britain's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited Montreal, he entertained them with a stream of jokes, persuaded the King to sing the rollicking song of the coureur de bois, Alouette.

From Time Magazine Archive

I know I am nothing but a rough coureur de bois, in spite of my birth.

From The Span o' Life A Tale of Louisbourg & Quebec by McIlwraith, Jean Newton

Du Luth’s voyageurs and coureur de bois caught it up, and then it swept far out over the water and was echoed back from the forest.

From The Road to Frontenac by Merwin, Samuel

I remembered that I was dressed roughly, was torn and rumpled by my contest with the forest, and that I must appear an out-at-elbows coureur de bois.

From Montlivet by Smith, Alice Prescott

Accordingly, he sent orders to the judge, at Montreal, to seize every coureur de bois on whom he could lay hands.

From Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV by Parkman, Francis