loutre
/lutʁ/feminine
The English word otter is translated into French as loutre.
loutre refers to the mammal.
Meaning: mammal (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The word is feminine, so you must use the feminine article 'une' or 'la' even if referring to a male otter.
How do you pronounce it?
/lutʁ/
Did you know?
- One of the historical roots for the otter in the Mediterranean region may have been influenced by the Ancient Greek word énudris.
- Old French had several variations for the word, including leurre and loirre, before loutre became the standard form.
- While loutre is the standard word for an otter, the Spanish and Catalan languages use related words like lutria or llúdria based on different Vulgar Latin variants.
Examples in context
- La loutre jouait dans la rivière.The otter was playing in the river.This sentence shows the use of loutre to describe an animal playing in a river.Tatoeba #10464625 by lbdx, translation #5977814 by Kevre
- J'ai vu une loutre.I saw an otter.This sentence demonstrates how to use loutre when stating you have seen one.Tatoeba #8954746 by Rafik, translation #12732175 by rul
- Quel est le nom scientifique de la loutre ?What is the scientific name for the otter?
- Les loutres sont si mignonnes quand elles mangent avec leurs petites pattes !Otters are so cute when they eat with their little paws!
- Je suis captivé par les loutres depuis que j'ai vu un documentaire à leur sujet.I have been captivated by otters since I watched a documentary about them.
- La petite loutre nage très vite.The little otter swims very fast.
Example conversation
Manon and Gabriel are visiting a zoo.
- ManonEst-ce que tu vois la loutre ?Do you see the otter?
- GabrielOui, elle nage très vite.Yes, it is swimming very fast.
- ManonC'est l'animal le plus mignon ici.It is the cutest animal here.
- GabrielJe suis d'accord avec toi, Manon.I agree with you, Manon.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “otter” translations and entries loutre, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries loutre, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
