(fōˈbo͝orˌ, -bo͝orgˌ)
noun A district lying outside the original city limits of a French-speaking city or a city with a French heritage, such as New Orleans. See Regional Note at
beignet.
The close political ties between Scotland and France during the 15th through 17th centuries were reflected in linguistic borrowing from French to Scots, as in the case of
faubourg, a synonym for
suburb. In England
faubourg seems to have lost the competition with the more popular
suburb. However, in contemporary American English the word still exists, although it is virtually confined to the city of New Orleans, where
faubourg remains in use because of the city's French background. Even there it is used not as a common noun like
suburb but in combination in the names of various quarters of the city, for example,
Faubourg Sainte Marie. These city districts, like their counterparts in Paris, such as
Faubourg Saint-Germain and
Faubourg Saint-Antoine, originally lay outside the city limits, hence the designation
faubourg, originally from Old French
fors, “outside,” and
borc, “town.” As the population grew outward, these former suburbs became part of the city proper.
