MONDAY, APRIL 05, 2021 -
https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/
bricolage
[ bree-kuh-lahzh, brik-uh- ]
noun
a construction made of whatever materials are at hand; something created from a variety of available things.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF BRICOLAGE?
The noun bricolage in French means “do it yourself,” formed from the verb bricoler “to do odd jobs, do small chores; make improvised repairs,” from Middle French bricoler “to zigzag, bounce off,” ultimately a derivative of the Old French noun bricole “a trifle.” The French suffix –age, completely naturalized in English –age, as in carriage, marriage, passage, voyage, comes from –āticum, a noun suffix from the neuter of the Latin adjective suffix –āticus. Bricolage entered English in the second half of the 20th century.
HOW IS BRICOLAGE USED?
Indeed, if we scratch beneath the surface, English is a veritable bricolage of these ‘borrowed’ words.
TIM LOMAS, "THE MAGIC OF 'UNTRANSLATABLE' WORDS," SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, JULY 12, 2016
So, for now, with my basket in one hand and my daughter’s little palm in the other, we’ll continue to walk the world in search of people, spaces and moments that move our soul and gather them into a living piece of art, a bricolage of memories called home.
STEVIE TRUJILLO, "THE WAGER OF RAISING A CHILD ABROAD," NEW YORK TIMES, FEBRUARY 16, 2018