traîneau vs luge

Question

Is there any difference between traîneau and luge?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Gee,
Yes, there is a difference.Take a look here: https://www.wordreference.com/enfr/sledge
Bonne journée !

Answer

It mostly seems that 'luge' is considered a small type of "traineau". Both Larousse and Robert indicate that in their definitions as well.

https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/luge

Quote from Larousse sums this up :

luge

nom féminin

(mot savoyard, du bas latin sludia)

1. Petit traîneau utilisé pour glisser sur la neige : Les enfants font de la luge sur la pente.2. Sport pratiqué avec ce traîneau. (Les épreuves de luge sont inscrites aux jeux Olympiques depuis 1964.)

Answer

To discuss the difference in meaning between 2 words, you need the definitions of both words.

A luge is a ‘petit’ traîneau. Not all traîneaux are luges.

A sled-like snow vehicle is also a traîneau, and is referred to as ‘un traîneau’ in French, but it is not the only traîneau.

3 significant French monolingual dictionaries - Robert, Larousse and Académie-Française confirm this (review both words for completeness). TV5, amongst many others, agrees :

https://langue-francaise.tv5monde.com/decouvrir/dictionnaire/l/luge

A simple internet search will confirm the description of a luge also belonging to the ‘family’ of traîneaux - Amazon France being just one of many examples

https://www.amazon.fr/Luges-traîneaux-50-à-100-EUR/s?

Wordreference also defines a luge as a (petit) traîneau. https://www.wordreference.com/fren/luge

Wordreference is a good word to word, and fixed expression translator - in many ways it is more like a bilingual thesaurus than a reference dictionary though.

For comprehensive definitions of words that include the nuance and detail, a good monolingual reference dictionary is superior. Luckily, we are studying language in an era when there are numerous comprehensive, reputable (French) dictionaries accessible on line.