DICTIONNAIRE FRANCO-ANGLO-AMERICAIN

Attention: this page is getting pretty old now. We keep it because we like old things (;-), but if you are more interested in using a caving dictionary than in studying their historic process, you may as well go directly e.g. on the UIS dictionary:
UIS dictionary page

AKNOWLEDGMENTS
==============

  many thanks are due to all who contributed. (By random order).

diane@XRAY.CHEM.RPI.EDU (Diane H Peapus)
tom kaye <71163.3675@CompuServe.COM>
frantz@netcom.com (William S. Frantz)
U T Grotto (Mark Minton)
Wookey 
Brice Williams <73061.20@CompuServe.COM>

		     ======= SAFETY SHOUTS =======

---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Below !
F:  Pierre !
USA:  ROCK!


Expl: when you knock stone down you'd better shout to give a chance
your friends below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Rope Free !
F:  Libre ! 
USA: Off Rope !

Expl:  When someone is waiting for the rope you shout when you are off
 that section of rope/pitch.

		  ======= END SAFETY SHOUTS =======

---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Abseiling 
F:  Rappel (de montagne)
USA: Rappeling / Rappel (never say Abseiling in the U.S.)

Expl: Go down a cliff using a rope and an abseil device.
        [The word is used for all sorts of abseil, whatever technique
        is used]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Acetylene
F:  Acetylene

Expl:gas burnt to produce light whilst caving
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Active
F:  Actif

Expl: means that a cave is still developing, there is running water
inside.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Anchor
F:  Amarrage

Expl: holding device for ropes. see Hangers
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Anticlinal
F:  Anticlinal

Expl: (Geol).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Bat
F:  Chauve souris

Expl:  the caver's animal by reference. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Belay
F:  Assurance

Expl: prevent harm from falling (see lifeline)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Belt
F:  ceinture

Expl:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: boat / dinghy
F:  bateau

Expl:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Bolt
F:  cheville / SPIT

Expl: the little thing you put in the rock to screw your bolt in.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: boots (high boots)
      Wellingtons, wellies (common usage).
F:  bottes

Expl: plastic shoes used to walk in muddy areas.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Boulder
F:  Bloc

Expl: big stone
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: calcification
F:  calcite

Expl: Pretty limestone in cave. formed by water evaporation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: carbide
F:  carbure

Expl: the stone which produces acetylene when wet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: squeeze
F:  chatie`re
USA: squeeze/ gun barrel / pinch / squeeze point

Expl: Small hole in wall in which you have to go through. Ex: "Uh, a
squeeze, I hate caving, Bouhouhou!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------
USA: Popcorn

GB: 
F:  Cauliflower

Expl: a cave formation, small white spheriods attached to a wall
	as opposed to cave pearls which sphereoids and not attached 
	to anything
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: cave / cavity  / grotto
F:  cavite' / caverne / grotte 

GB: cave system
F : Re'seau

GB: Caving / Speleology / Potholing 
F : Spe'le'ologie
USA:  Spelunking
caving or potholing is the act, speleology is strictly the science in
the UK.

GB: Caver
F : Spe'le'ologue

Expl: anything natural where it's good caving in. 
 [grotto is only used to describe caves in fairy-tales, as in 'santa's
grotto', or pretty chambers within caves]

Note: that cave implies a horizontal entrance and 'pot' or 'pot-hole'
implies a vertical entrance
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Stal 
F: Concre'tion 
USA: Concretion / Formation / Pretty

Expl: pretty things made of calcification.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Chamber / Hall
F:  Chambre / Salle

Expl: a room, big hollow, something bigger than the passages.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Chimneying
F:  Opposition

Expl: walk or climb on two opposite walls (no floor, but without
fall).  
[Chimneying is going up by this technique, more often used by climbers.
Traversing is the term for travelling along a passage above the floor,
usually using both walls]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
F  : Ammarrage Naturel
USA: Chock stone

Expl: Rock/Boulder jammed in a crack.  Suitable for rigging ropes.
The French version is any rock/boulder suitable for rigging ropes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Clay
F:  Argile

Expl: kind of stone. See Mud.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Clayey
F:  Argileux

Expl:  See Muddy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Cleft
F:  Diaclase / fissure
US: fissure

Expl: a straight cut in the rock.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: To climb
F:  Escalader / monter

GB: Climbing
F : Escalade


Expl: The name of the activity which consists in starting from the foot
of a cliff and getting to the  top.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: To coil (a rope)
F:  Lover (une corde)

Expl: pack away the rope.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Column
F:  Colonne

Expl: Ever see the Parthenon in Athens ?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Corrosion / chemical erosion
F:  Corrosion

Expl: disolve something with chemicals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Cow's tail 
F:  Longe

GB: Donkey's Dick
F : Longe de kit

Expl: Cow's tail : A piece of rope to tie yoursef to an anchor( or
anything). Donkey's Dick : a piece of rope to attach you bag to your
harness. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Deep 
F:  Profond

Expl: very high but downstairs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Descender
F:  Descendeur
US: Descending device or Rack/ figure eight

Expl: A device used to slow your descent on a rope. Should prevent
your crash.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Deviation
F:  Deviation

Expl: A deviation is useful to prevent the rope from touching the
rock. usually a single krab held by a sling, in wich the rope may
slide. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Drapery / Bacon rind
     [bacon rind is slang only - or possibly american?]
F:  Draperie
USA: Drapery / Bacon rind / flowstone

Expl: Nice sheets of calcite.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: To emerge
F:  Emerger

Expl: To come out of a pipe or something like that.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Erosion 
F:  Erosion

Expl: Usually wind or water are cutting stone (with time).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Fault
F:  Faille

Expl: Big cut in Earth.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Footloops
F:  Pedales
USA: Foot loops

Expl: the string of rope in which you put your feet to climb the rope
up. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Flame
F:  Flamme

Expl:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Floor deposit
F:  de'pot de calcite

Expl: Calcite deposited on the floor.  Any mineral deposited on the
floor after the passage formed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Flow F: Coule'e / flux / debit

Expl: Either the running of water or mud or the feeling that the rock
is flowing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Flooding / Flood
F: crue

Expl: After a rain the water level raises.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Fold
F:  Pli / Plissement

Expl: (geol).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Food 
F:  Nourriture

Expl: Too bad starving just for not knowing the word.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Fossil
F:  Fossile

GB: Fossilization
F : Fossilisation

Expl: Very old living thing (animal or plant, long dead anyway), now
turned to rock, or just its shape.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Rebelay
F:  Fractionnement
USA: Rebelay

Expl: Add an anchor in the middle (or so) of a pit to prevent the rope
from touching the stone. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB:  glove
F:  gant

Expl: piece of cloth to protect the hands
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Gour / rimstone dam
F:  Gour
US: Rimstone pools


Expl: beautiful cups of calcification.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Hammer
F:  Marteau

Expl: tool for hitting.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Hand-line
F:  Main courante


Expl: length of rope to prevent a fall when there is some risk of one. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Handled ascender
F:  Poigne'e (d'ascension)

Expl: Jammer used in hand, the foot-loops is attach on it.[ Handled
ascender means ascender with a handle on it - eg Petzl expedition,
'Hand Jammer' or 'Top jammer' are the usual terms.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Hangers F: Plaquette

Expl: the metal device which is screwed in the SPIT/bolt.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Harness 
F:  Harnais

GB: Sit Harness 
F:  Cuissard
USA: Seat Harness

GB: Chest Harness 
F:  Harnais de poitrine

Expl: the device built in straps or ropes (Yes a few of them are!),
used to stick the human being to the rope. Sit harness are used for
sitting (usually one loop for each leg, and one or two loops for the
bottom. Chest harness are for the upper torso.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: To Haul
F:  Tirer

Expl: Use your force to get something (or someone) up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Helectite
F:  Excentrique

Expl: Stalactite with a rather queer form.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Helm, Helmet
F:  casque

Expl: to protect your head from falling things or agressive ceilings. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Hole
F:  trou

GB: Swallow Hole
F : Gouffre

Expl: see cave.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 
GB: Hoist
F:  Hisser

GB: to give a hoist
F:  Hisser
Expl: same as haul.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Jammer / (Ascender)
F:  Bloqueur
USA: Ascender

GB: Chest Jammer
F:  Bloqueur Ventral / Croll
USA: Chest Ascender / Croll

Expl: device in which the rope can slide only one way.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Knot
F:  Noeud

GB: To tie
F : Nouer

Expl: You tie a knot in a rope.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Karabiner / Krab
F:  Mousqueton
USA: carabiner / Biner

Expl: The piece of metal which looks like a ring with an opening. Used
to attach a rope to an anchor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Ladder
F:  E'chelle
US: Cable ladder or fixed ladder 

Expl: wire or metal sides with rungs for you to climb up (or down).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Electric / light
F:  Lampe electrique

GB: Mixed acetylene electric lamp
F: Eclairage mixte
[but most people can't be bothered with this long-winded term so they
are usually just called 'Laser' as that is the usual sort]

GB: Carbide lamp
F : Lampe a` carbure

Expl: The caver's lamp may be either only electric, only acetylene or
both. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Ledge
F:  Vire

Expl: very tiny floor, between a wall and a pit. And you have to go
this way. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: lifeline
F:  corde d'assurance

Expl: rope used to prevent harm from falling (see belay)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Limestone (n)
F:  Calcaire

GB: Calcareus (adj geological)
  : Chalky
F : Calcaire

GB: Limestone Area 
F : Karst
USA: Karst

GB: Limestone Pavement
F:  Lapiaz 

Expl: A kind of rock, very easily carved by water. Limestone Pavemen
is the surface feature with ridges 'clints' and gaps 'grikes'.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: loop F: boucle

Expl: A piece of rope tied to itself, or anything tied to itself, or
something like that. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Sink / Sinkhole / Swallow hole
F:  Perte (d'une riviere)
USA: Lost river / Sinking creek

Expl: When a river disapears into the ground.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Crabwalk / (Meander) / Sinuous passage
F:  Me'andre 

Expl: Come from the Meander river in Turkey or Israel (I think Israel)
famous for being really sinuous. Any passage which gives such an
impression. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Moving
F:  Progression

Expl: When not standing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Mud
F:  boue

Expl: earth + water. (see clay)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Muddy
F:  boueux

Expl:  (see clayey)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Narrow
F:  Etroit

GB: Narrow passage
F:  boyau

Expl: When you can touch opposite walls with your ears.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Obstruction
F:  Remplissage
US: Breakdown 

Expl: a passage filled with stones or anything.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Passage
F:  Galerie

GB: Belly crawl 
GB: Crawlway    
GB: Stoopway    
GB: Walking passage 

Expl: Not a chamber.
 Belly crawl - you are flat on the floor as you go
 Crawlway - you go on hands and knees
 Stoopway - you must bend over so you don't hit your head
 Walking passage - not one of the above


--------------------------------------------------------------------- 
GB: Peg
F:  Piton
USA: Piton

Expl: a metal device which holds in a crack of stone, and on wich you
tie a rope.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 
GB: Pinch / Pinch out 
F : Queuter (v)

Expl: the end of a cave passage; it gets too small for a human
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Pipe / Tube
F:  Tuyau
USA: some times called a Subway

Expl: passage wich is rather circular.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: pitch
F:  Puit
USA: Pit

Expl: a vertical passage.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Pot hole
F:  Aven

Expl: a kind of cave.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Pulley
F:  Poulie

Expl: a circular plate which turns around its center. used to haul
heavy  loads.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Pulley-block / Hauling system
F:  Poulie-bloqueur / Palan

Expl: Pulley-block: combination of a pulley and of a jammer.  Hauling
system one or more pulley and the rope. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Rescue
F:  Secours

Expl: the party involved when something goes wrong. Also a noun, the
thing that (hopefully) happens after it goes wrong.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Rescue Blanket F: Couverture de Survie

Expl: a very light blanket used to isolate from rock and air.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Resurgence / Rising
F:  Re'surgence

Expl: a river which has desappeared in the ground, comes out again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB:  Ridgewalking 
F :  Prospection 

Expl:looking for caves by walking (mountainous territory)
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: to Rig
F:  Equiper

Expl: The job of screwing anchors, and tying ropes on anchors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: River
F:  Rivie`re 

Expl: a running piece of water.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Rock 
F:  Roche

Expl: Rock is the usual word for either a small boulder, or the
generic term for limestone, chalk etc]. Stone almost always means 'a
small rock'.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Roof / Top 
F: Plafond
US: Ceiling

Expl: It's what it is above your head. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Rope
F:  Corde

Expl: Looks like a snake, only longer and slimmer.

Definitions from my[tom kaye] (U.S.) perspective:
>     Word     Size in mm
>    ------    ----------
>    Thread    1 or less
>    String    2-3
>    Cord      4-6
>    Rope      7 or more
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Sand
F:  Sable

Expl: Tiny stones made of silicon dioxide (mostly). 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Scree / Boulder choke
F:  E'boulis

Expl: boulders (nearly) blocking the passage, scree is a slope of
stones on the side of a mountain
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Sediment 
F: Sediment

Expl: what falls at the bottom of rivers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Self Jamming / auto-stop
F:  auto-bloquant
USA: Self Belay (?) / Self locking

Expl: A descender which stops when released.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: self lining
F:  auto assurance
USA: Self belay (?)

Expl: You are responsible for your own safety.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Single Rope Technique
F:  Monte'e aux bloqueurs

Expl: You climb up a rope with a chest jammer and a handle jammer and
a foot-loop.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB:  sump
F:  Siphon

Expl: a passage totaly under water.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Sling
F:  sangle
USA: Webbing

Expl: sort of flat rope.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Spring 
F:  Source

Expl: the water comes out from the ground.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: stal
F : ?
US: flowstone

Expl: This is calcite covering part of a wall.  [tom kaye] supposes
the GB word stal also includes stalagmites, stalactites, bacon rind.
[US Citizens] use no word as general in meaning as 'stal'.
    
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Stalagmite
F : Stalagmite

GB: Stalactite
F:  Stalactite

Expl: half columns of calcification.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

GB: Stratum / bed
F:  Strate

GB: Stratification
F : Stratification

Expl: (Geol).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Straw
F:  Fistuleuse
USA: Soda Straw

Expl: Tiny Stalagtite, thin but long.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: String
F:  ficelle

Expl: Small rope
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: suit
F:  combinaison
USA: Cover-alls /coveralls

Expl: the outer layer of clothes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Swallow hole
F:  Aven

Expl: another cave
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Syncline
F:  Synclinal

Expl:(Geol).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Tackle bag
F:  kit bag
USA: cave pack

Expl: the plastic bag used by cavers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Thread 
F:  Fil

GB: Ariane's Thread
F : Fil d'Arianne

Expl: Thread : tiny rope. Ariane's Thread : threads used to prevent
loss in a labyrinth.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Survey / Surveying
F:  Topographie

Expl: When you draw the map.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Training / course
F:  Stage

Expl: You teach or learn something.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Traverse line
F: Main courante

Expl: It is more like a hand-line, where you are not actually hanging
from it, but you do want to clip a cowstail in in case you fall off
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Tyrolian Traverse F: Tyrolienne

Expl: a rope between two walls and you have to go this way.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Undersuit
F:  Sous-combinaison
US: Underware/ longjohns

Expl: the layer of clothes just under the outermost.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB:  Arch
F:  Voute

GB: Duck 
F : Voute mouilante
USA: Duckunder

Expl: Duck: Not actually a siphon (you can see the other side), but
you have anyway to go underwater.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Wader
F:  Pontonie`re, ponto

Expl: waist high boots (as used by fishermen).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Driver 
F: Tamponoir

Expl: tool used to dig a hole you plan to put a bolt in.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Water
F:  eau

Expl: Better in ricard, but...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: wetsuit
F:  combinaison de plonge'e 

Expl: Neoprene suit used to prevent the loss of heat when in water.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Winch
F:  Treuil

Expl: just a pulley with a lever.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GB: Wire
F:  Fil 

Expl: tiny rope.

=====================================================================
Unknown english words :

F: ganse: this is the loop or the rope which holds the krab.


=====================================================================

          o o              Arnaud Février         oo          o 
  $$$$$$ "$$$$          fevrier@res.enst.fr      "$$$$$$""""$$$$  
        o"" $$                                         $   $$"    
      $"    $$               ENST Paris                 oo""      
      $ooo" $           Departement Reseaux             $         
   oo$$$"   $             46, Rue Barrault      oooooooo$oooooooo 
   """ $    $    o         75013 - Paris         ""     $o   """  
       $    $   o$             FRANCE                   $$        
    $o$$    $   $$                                      $$        
    "$$"    "$$$$"   Tel: +33  (1) 45 81 73 52       $$$$$        
                     Sec: +33  (1) 45 81 70 85        "$"         
 		     Fax: +33  (1) 45 89 16 64
 
=====================================================================