Edith Piaf

3 6.3

A famous French singer who sang powerful emotional songs

proper noun
/ˈiːdɪθ piˈɑːf/

: Édith Piaf

Many consider Edith Piaf to be one of France's greatest vocalists.

Examples

The music of Edith Piaf evokes strong emotions in listeners around the world.
The film about Edith Piaf's life introduced her work to a new generation.
Edith Piaf was incredible!
I love Edith Piaf!
Many consider Edith Piaf to be one of France's greatest vocalists.
The film about Edith Piaf's life introduced her work to a new generation.
The music of Edith Piaf evokes strong emotions in listeners around the world.

Synonyms

Edith Giovanna Gassion

vsEdith Piaf

9.5

The birth name of the French singer Édith Piaf

is the stage name she used professionally

Surface Forms

Edith Piaf main

Morphology

Edith + Piaf

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person; the referential meaning (a famous French cabaret singer) cannot be derived from the constituent tokens 'Edith' and 'Piaf', which are arbitrary name forms and not semantically transparent to a B1 learner. Identifying this MWE requires cultural/world knowledge rather than compositional knowledge of its parts, so it is opaque.

Etymology

Edith Piaf took her stage name from French street slang: piaf means 'sparrow'. People called her this because she was very small but had a powerful, emotional voice like a little bird, so the name fits her image and helps us remember her style.