bichon

bichon; lapdog

Inherited from Middle French bichon (“small long-haired dog”), from Old French biche (“bitch, female dog”), from Old English biċċe (“female dog”), from Proto-West Germanic *bikkjā, from Proto-Germanic *bikjǭ (“female dog, bitch”). Cognate with Old Norse bikkja (“female dog”), German Betze (“female dog”). Alternative etymology derives through clipping of barbichon (“small poodle”), a diminutive of barbiche (“shaggy dog”), however, chronology makes this derivation improbable if not impossible, as