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proper noun

Boileau

/bwa.lo/

proper noun/bwa.lo/

a surname, Boileau, transferred from the nickname, equivalent to English Drinkwater; a municipality of Papineau Regional County Municipality, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada

Related: Boilois, Boiloise

From bois + l' + eau, literally “drink water”; nickname of a teetotaler. The first component of the compound is an imperative form of boire. The municipality in Québec is named after its first postmaster, one Pierre Boileau.