lit escamotable
masculine
A murphy bed in French is lit escamotable.
Meaning: bed that folds up into the wall (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase lit escamotable is composed of lit, meaning bed and escamotable, which means retractable or foldable, describing the mechanism of the bed.
Which one should you use?
You can use lit escamotable mural to specifically emphasize that the bed folds into the wall. Additionally, lit mural can be used as a formal variant to translate specifically to 'wall bed'.
How does it change in a sentence?
Because lit is a masculine noun, you must use the masculine indefinite article un when referring to a single murphy bed, as in un lit escamotable.
Did you know?
- The word escamotable comes from the verb escamoter, which literally means to perform a sleight-of-hand trick or to make something disappear like a magician.
- In French, escamoter can be used figuratively to describe someone who avoids a difficult question or quietly removes an inconvenient subject from a conversation.
- The term escamotable is frequently used in high-end French horology to describe a date or moon-phase complication that can be hidden from the watch face.
Examples in context
- Nous avons installé un lit escamotable dans la chambre d'amis.We have installed a Murphy bed in the guest room.
- Je cherche un lit escamotable pour mon petit studio.I am looking for a murphy bed for my small studio.
- J'ai installé un lit escamotable dans le salon.I installed a murphy bed in the living room.
- Ce lit escamotable prend très peu de place.This murphy bed takes up very little space.
- Est-ce que le lit escamotable est facile à fermer ?Is the murphy bed easy to close?
Example conversation
Lucas and Manon are looking at furniture in a small apartment.
- LucasOn pourrait acheter un lit escamotable pour cette chambre.We could buy a murphy bed for this bedroom.
- ManonC'est une bonne idée, Lucas, pour gagner de l'espace.That is a good idea, Lucas, to save space.
- LucasRegarde ce modèle, il est très moderne.Look at this model, it is very modern.
- ManonOui, il est très joli aussi.Yes, it is very pretty too.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “murphy bed” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries escamotable, lit, CC BY-SA 4.0.
