The Etymology of Boudoir
Boudoir began as a wonderfully candid French invention. French bouder meant to sulk, to pout, an imitative verb capturing the puffed-out lips of a person nursing a grudge; in 1730s polite society the boudoir was a small private room where a fashionable woman could retreat to do exactly that, away from guests, husbands, or the demands of the salon. English borrowed the word in 1781 with the room still small and intimate but the sulking quietly suppressed; in the 19th century it became a marker of feminine privacy, decorated in soft fabrics and pastel colours, equipped with a chaise longue. By the late Victorian era boudoir had drifted toward the slightly risqué — boudoir photography, boudoir biscuits (sponge fingers, named for being eaten in private with afternoon coffee). Today the word sounds antique in French but persists in English as a fashion and design term.