Dégât

Dégât is a masculine French noun meaning damage or harm caused by an event, typically affecting property or, in some contexts, persons. It is commonly used to refer to material damage to buildings, equipment, or environments, as in the phrases dégât des eaux (water damage) or dégât électrique (electrical damage). In everyday language, the singular dégât is often used for a specific incident, while the plural dégâts is used to denote damages in general or multiple incidents.

In formal and professional contexts, the term appears in insurance, legal, and disaster-response language. Expressions such as évaluer les dégâts (to assess the damage), indemnisation des dégâts matériels (compensation for material damage), or dommages et dégâts corporels (bodily damages) are common. The phrase dégât des eaux is a fixed idiom for water intrusion that causes damage to a dwelling or other property. Collateral phrases include dégâts matériels (property damage), dégâts humains or dégâts corporels (bodily injuries), and dégâts collatéraux (collateral damage), the latter mainly in military or policy discussions.

Usage notes: dégât emphasizes a single incident when used in the singular, while dégâts refers to the broader concept of damage or multiple loss events. The expression faire des dégâts is idiomatic for causing considerable damage, often with a colloquial nuance.

Overall, dégât functions as a general term for harm to property or, less commonly, to people, with specialized forms and collocations in insurance, legal, and emergency-management contexts.