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Glite Dictionary
Prix Goncourt

Prix Goncourt

1 9.2
An annual award for the best French prose book, usually a novel
  • proper noun
: Premio Goncourt
  • The Prix Goncourt is one of the most prestigious literary awards in France.

Examples

  • The novel was awarded the Prix Goncourt in 2010, bringing its author international acclaim.

  • Winning the Prix Goncourt is considered a major achievement in the world of French literature.

  • Several authors who have received the Prix Goncourt have later been translated into English.

  • Did you hear that Marie won the Prix Goncourt this year?

  • The Map and the Territory was awarded the Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary prize.

  • He also received the Prix Goncourt for George Perec: A Life in Words.

  • He received the 1972 Prix Goncourt for his novel L'epervier de Maheux.

Surface Forms

Prix Goncourt main

Morphology

Prix + Goncourt

The element 'Prix' corresponds to English 'prize' and 'Goncourt' is a proper name, so a learner who knows the constituents would readily infer this refers to a prize named Goncourt (i.e., an award). However the precise, culturally specific sense — that it is the annual French literary prize for the best imaginative prose — requires extra cultural/encyclopedic knowledge and is not fully predictable from the parts alone.

Etymology

Prix Goncourt is named after the Goncourt brothers, two French writers who left money to start a prize for great French books. So Prix Goncourt means the yearly 'award' for the best French novel or prose work.