vedette

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The French military term vedette (formed from Latin videre, to see), migrated into English and other languages to refer to a mounted sentry or outpost, who has the function of bringing information, giving signals or warnings of danger, etc, to a main body of troops. In modern terms, the soldiers who man listening-posts are the equivalent of vedettes.

All around Salisbury Plain in southern England, the roads connecting the plain with the surrounding countryside feature a brick-built guard-post, manned by security officers whenever there is military activity beyond that point. They are known as vedettes, each being named for a local geographic feature.

Navies use the term vedette to refer to a small scouting or patrol boat.

Spanish

In Argentina and Peru, the term vedette is used for scantily-clad women whose talents typically include dancing, acting and singing in theatres, and making appearances in day-time gossip television shows (to have fake feuds with each other as publicity stunts). They lead these borderline-pornographic productions; the performances are similar to the original French cabarets, burlesque and the revue genre.

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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