Debouch
/dɪˈbuːʃ/noun
To emerge from a narrow place into open ground, or to flow out into a wider area.
Did you know?Debouch comes through French from the same root as words for a mouth, because in older imagery a valley, river, or pass was treated like something that could ‘speak’ people or water into the open.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bheug-
“to bend, curve, or arch”
Latin
Latin
bucca
“cheek; mouth”
Old French
Old French
bouche
“mouth”
16th Century
French
déboucher
“to unstop; to emerge from a confined place”
17th Century
English
debouch
“to issue forth from a narrow place into open ground”
Explore more surprising origins