Word.ws English Dictionary

perdu

/pəˈdjuː/

perdu adjective: stationed in an exposed or hazardous position; hidden in ambush. Originally as sentinel perdu.

Adjective

perdu (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) Stationed in an exposed or hazardous position; hidden in ambush. Originally as sentinel perdu.
    • a perdue captainc. 1616–1619 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Loyal Subiect”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act I...
  2. (archaic) In a dangerous situation; lost, desperate.
    • Among certain grizzled sea-gossips of the gun decks and forecastle went a rumor perdue […]1924, Herman Melville, chapter 7, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.
  3. (archaic) Hidden; concealed from sight. Chiefly with lie.
    • He should lie Perdue who is to walk the round.1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […], →OCLC
    • I stood perdu behind Mr Grimbold; a tall personage, whose broad shoulders, however, just permitted me to peep over at the Major, who had not yet espied me.1792, Charlotte Smith, Desmond, Broadview, published 2001, page 346

Noun

perdu (plural perdus)

  1. One placed on watch, or in ambush.
  2. A soldier sent on a forlorn hope.
    • To watch, poor perdu, / With this thin helm?c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Forms of perdu

Adjective
alternative formperdue
Noun
pluralperdus

Origin of perdu

Borrowed from Middle French perdu, originally after sentinelle perdue.

Words that rhyme with perdu

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about perdu

What does perdu mean?
Perdu means stationed in an exposed or hazardous position; hidden in ambush. Originally as sentinel perdu.
What part of speech is perdu?
Perdu can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce perdu?
Perdu is pronounced /pəˈdjuː/ (UK).

Words near perdu in the dictionary

  1. perditious
  2. Perdomo
  3. Perdomos
  4. perdricide
  5. perdricides
  6. perdu
  7. perdue
  8. perduellion
  9. perdues
  10. perdulous
  11. perdurability

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: perdu (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-perdu.wav.

Cite this entry: “perdu.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/perdu. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.