besogne
French, noun
besogne is a French feminine noun meaning “work, job” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an accent, besogné is a different word: “past participle of besogner”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Travail qu’exige de chacun sa profession, action par laquelle on fait une œuvre”.
What does besogne mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininework, job
aller vite en besogne
verb
- 1
past participle of besogner
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Travail qu’exige de chacun sa profession, action par laquelle on fait une œuvre. 2. Effet du travail, l’ouvrage même qui résulte du travail. 3. Acte sexuel.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of besogne
- besognes plural
- besognée feminine
- besognés masculine plural
- besognées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to besogne
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is besogne in French?
besogne appears 1.1 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).