Etymologie, Etimología, Étymologie, Etimologia, Etymology, (griech.) etymología, (lat.) etymologia, (esper.) etimologio
UK Vereinigtes Königreich Großbritannien und Nordirland, Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte, Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande du Nord, Regno Unito di Gran Bretagna e Irlanda del Nord, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, (esper.) Britujo
Ismus, Ismo, Isme, Ismo, Ism, (esper.) ismoj

FR-Ismen

"§"
adroit (W3)

"adroit"

ADJECTIVE:

• 1. "Dexterous"; "deft".
• 2. "Skillful" and "adept" under pressing conditions. See synonyms at "dexterous".

ETYMOLOGY: French, from "à droit" : "à" = "to" (from Latin "ad"; see "ad–") + "droit" = "right" (from Latin "directus"; see "direct").

OTHER FORMS: "adroitly", ADVERB "adroitness", NOUN

"ADROIT XX" - "Adverse Drug Reactions Online Information Tracking"

"adroit", adjective ("more adroit" or "adroiter", "most adroit" or "adroitest")

"dexterous", "deft" or "skillful"

Translations: German: "geschickt", "gewandt"

Etymology: (í) "droit" ("right").

"adroit", Adjective

Meaning: "Dexterous", "deft", "nimble-fingered", "artful"; 2having skills or talents that makes doing things seem easy".

Notes: Today's Good Word comes accompanied by an adverb, "adroitly", and a straightforward noun, "adroitness". No spelling traps so long as you remember the "OY" sound is spelled "oi" as in "Detroit".

In Play: ...

Word History: Today's Good Word comes from French "adroit", a word made from the Old French phrase "à" = "to" + "droit" = "right" (both senses of the word), "direct". "Droit" is a direct descendant from Late Latin "directum" = "right", "justice", the accusative case of "directus" = "straight". "Directus" is the past participle of the verb "dirigere", a variant of "deregere" = "to set or lay straight", comprising de "from" + "regere" = "to keep or lead straight", "to guide". This is the root of "rex" = "king", and "regal". It also produced "regular" which, after passing through French, was reduced to "rule". English, as is its wont, borrowed this word at every step of its development, even though it had its own Germanic version of the original PIE root, "right".

ADREIT (s.xiiex)

adrait, adroit; adret

[ FEW: 3,90a directus; Gdf: 1,118a adroit 3; GdfC: 8,36a adroit; TL: 1,158 adroit; DEAF: Ø; DMF: adroit; TLF: adroit; OED: Ø; MED: ; DMLBS: Ø ]
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"adroit"

AWWY: "adroit"; "dexterity"; "gauche" ("left"); "left" (associations with evil); "left-handed" compliment (insult); Right and Left; "sinister" ("left")

E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.

"Adroit"

properly means "to the right" (French, "à droite"). The French call a person who is not adroit "gauche" ("left-handed"), meaning awkward, boorish.

"adroit", adjective

• expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body.
• cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious: an adroit debater.

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ORIGIN OF "ADROIT"

First recorded in 1645–55; from French, Old French: "elegant", "skillful", equivalent to "a-" = "a-" (5) + "droit", "dreit" = "straight", "just", "correct", from Latin "directus"; see "direct"
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"adroit" (adj.)

1650s, "dexterous", originally "rightly", from French "adroit", which by Old French had senses "upright" (physically and morally); "able", "clever", "skillful"; "well-formed", "handsome"; "on the right-hand side"; "veritable", from adverbial phrase "à droit" = "according to right".

This is from Old French "à" = "to" (see "ad-") + "droit", "dreit" = "right", from Medieval Latin "directum" (contracted "drictum") = "right", "justice", "law", neuter or accusative of Latin "directus" = "straight", past participle of "dirigere" = "set straight", from "dis-" = "apart" (see "dis-") + "regere" = "to direct", "to guide", 2keep straight" (from PIE root "*reg-" = "move in a straight line", with derivatives meaning "to direct in a straight line", thus "to lead", "rule"). It expresses prominently the idea of a trained hand. Related: "Adroitly"; "adroitness".

"*reg-": Proto-Indo-European root meaning "move in a straight line", with derivatives meaning "to direct in a straight line", thus "to lead", "rule".

It forms all or part of:

"abrogate"; "address"; "adroit"; "Alaric"; "alert"; "anorectic"; "anorexia"; "arrogant"; "arrogate"; "bishopric"; "correct"; "corvee"; "derecho"; "derogate"; "derogatory"; "Dietrich"; "direct"; "dress"; "eldritch"; "erect"; "ergo"; "Eric"; "Frederick"; "Henry"; "incorrigible"; "interregnum"; "interrogate"; "maharajah"; "Maratha"; "prerogative"; "prorogue"; "rack" (n.1) "frame with bars"; "rail" (n.1) "horizontal bar passing from one post or support to another"; "Raj"; "rajah"; "rake" (n.1) "toothed tool for drawing or scraping things together"; "rake" (n.2) "debauchee; idle, dissolute person"; "rakish"; "rank" (adj.) "corrupt, loathsome, foul"; "real" (n.) "small Spanish silver coin"; "realm"; "reck"; "reckless"; "reckon"; "rectangle"; "rectify"; "rectilinear"; "rectitude"; "recto"; "recto-"; "rector"; "rectum"; "regal"; "regent"; "regicide"; "regime"; "regimen"; "regiment"; "region"; "regular"; "regulate"; "Regulus"; "Reich"; "reign"; "resurgent"; "rex"; "rich"; "right"; "Risorgimento"; "rogation"; "royal"; "rule"; "sord"; "source"; "subrogate"; "subrogation"; "surge"; "surrogate"; "viceroy".

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by:

• Sanskrit "raj-" "a king, a leader", "rjyati" "he stretches himself", "riag" "torture" (by racking);
• Avestan "razeyeiti" "directs", "raštva-" "directed, arranged, straight";
• Persian "rahst" "right, correct";
• Latin "regere" "to rule, direct, lead, govern", "rex" (genitive "regis") "king", "rectus" "right, correct";
• Greek "oregein" "to reach, extend";
• Old Irish "ri",
• Gaelic "righ" "a king",
• Gaulish "-rix" "a king" (in personal names, such as "Vircingetorix"),
• Old Irish "rigim" "to stretch out";
• Gothic "reiks" "a leader", "raihts" "straight, right";
• Lithuanian "raižytis" "to stretch oneself";
• Old English "rice" "kingdom", "-ric" "king", "rice" "rich, powerful", "riht" "correct";
• Gothic "raihts",
• Old High German "recht",
• Old Swedish "reht",
• Old Norse "rettr" "correct".

"Adroit" Schriftfamilie

Entworfen von Phil Martin (1981)

1652: "adroit"

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Did you know?

"Adroit" goes back to an Old French word meaning "handsome or elegant" as well as "skilled in combat". The adjective is still used to imply skillfulness, but usually not of the physical kind. "Adroit" most often describes cleverness that achieves one's purpose in spite of difficulties.

Limericks on "adroit"

Limericks on "adroitly"

Limericks on "adroitness"

We found 35 dictionaries with English definitions that include the word "adroit":

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"adroit": Anything of exceptional or superlative quality. From the French word for right-handed.

"Adroit": Skilled, from french, meaning usage of right hand, also some moron named adroit zencyde comes to mind, i wanna kill that guy, but remember, adroit means skilled

adroit

Right On Word of the Day:

The French have a very different way of pronouncing this word than speakers of English do, but it's the same word and it's originally their word. It means "elegant", "skillful", which is what it also means in English. Don't confuse it with "à droite" = "to the right" in French, which lumps semantically in "droit" what English lumps in "right". You might sleuthfully see in "adroit" the Latin ancestor that also gives us "direct".

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Etymology

Borrowed from French "adroit", from French "à" ("on the"; "to") (from Old French "a" ("to"; "towards"), from Latin "ad" ("to"; "towards"), from Proto-Indo-European "*ád" ("at"; "near")) + French "droit" ("right") (from Old French "droit", "dreit", from Vulgar Latin "*drectus", syncopated form of Latin "directus" ("laid straight"; "direct", "straight"; "level"; "upright"), perfective passive participle of "dirigo" ("to lay straight"), from "dis-" ("apart", "in two") (from Proto-Indo-European "*dwís" ("twice"; "in two")) + "rego" ("to govern", "rule"; "to guide", "steer") (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European "*hrégeti" ("to be straightening", "setting upright"))).

"§"
curfew
kerchief
handkerchief (W3)

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Translations:

• French:" couvre-feu"
• German: "Ausgangssperre"
• Italian: "coprifuoco"
• Spanish:" cubrefuego"

"curfew", Noun

Meaning:

• 1. A time at which everyone is required to clear the streets and be at home or the regulation that institutes such a restriction.
• 2. A signal that is sounded to mark the beginning of a curfew.

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Word History:

Today's Good Word has a rich family history. It comes from Middle English "curfeu", a word borrowed from the Old French phrase "cuevre feu" = "cover the fire", from the verb that today is "couvrir" = "to cover" + "feu" = "fire". A "curfew" originally was the time when you had to put out your fires, candles, and lamps. French "couvrir" is the direct descendant of Latin "cooperire" = "to cover up" from "co-", an intensive prefix + "operire" = "to cover".

The same French verb went into the making of "kerchief", originally Old French "couvrechief" from the words that are today "couvrir" + "chef" = "head". (Thank the craziness of the English spelling system for the initial "K".)

You might be surprised at where "feu" = "fire" came from. It was originally Latin "focus" = "hearth", "fireplace", a word English borrowed directly from Latin, giving it the meaning of the place where the fire starts when you hold a lens beneath the sun.

Blanche Heriot and the Curfew Bell

England

A statue of the heroine who stopped time to save her betrothed.

IN THE TOWN OF CHERTSEY stands a statue of a young woman grabbing the clapper of a church bell. The piece, created by Shelia Mitchell, depicts a story that dates back to the 15th century. The woman is the statue is Blanche Heriot, who stopped the "curfew bell" to save her fiancé from being executed.
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In Iceland, Cats Face Curfews and Bans Aimed at Curtailing Their Murderous Ways

The cat-loving island nation is redefining its relationship with the ‘elegant assassins.’

BY EGILL BJARNASON JUNE 13, 2022
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Levoca "Cage of Shame"

Levoca, Slovakia

Too much gossip or just missing curfew could land you in here for a couple of days.
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E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.

"Curfew Bell"

The bell rung in the reigns of William I. and II. at sunset, to give notice to their subjects that they were to put out their fires and candles (French, "couvre feu", "cover-fire"). The Klokans in Abo, even to the present day, traverse the towns crying the "go-to-bed time". Those abroad are told to "make haste home", and those at home to "put out their fires". Abolished, as a police regulation, by Henry I. 1

“The curfew tolls the knell of parting day.”

Gray: Elegy.

WWII sherry bottle Clifton Rocks Railway

This is a 1 pint bottle of "Curfew Astral sherry", bottled by Spackman and Gosling who were Bristol wine and spirit importers. It was found under the war-time ledges built on top of the railway lines when the railway tunnel was converted for wartime use. It is such a wonderful name for a sherry to be drunk during the war and one can imagine it being passed around the people sitting on nearby ledges during the night time. The Clifton residents felt safe in the tunnel and came down every night. The bottle was then left under the ledge ready for us to discover it 70 years later (along with beer, milk and lemonade bottles and other artefacts)

"curfew", noun

• - an order establishing a specific time in the evening after which certain regulations apply, especially that no civilians or other specified group of unauthorized persons may be outdoors or that places of public assembly must be closed.
• - a regulation requiring a person to be home at a certain prescribed time, as imposed by a parent on a child.
• - the time at which a daily curfew starts.
• - the period during which a curfew is in effect.
• - a signal, usually made with a bell, announcing the start of the time of restrictions under a curfew.
• - a bell for sounding a curfew.

Le "Cobrifuòc" = "couvre-feu" est très actuel dans le Magreb; spécialement en Egypte. L’étymologie est bien sûr le même que celui du français "couvre-feu", latin "cooperire" + "focus". J’en parle parce que pour tenir mon anglais à niveau, je reçois régulièrement le New York Times (gratuit) qui signalait le "curfew" à Caïro. J’ai cliqué sur le mot et le NYT dictionnaire m’explique que "curfew" est notre "couvre-feu" et me donne en plus la prononciation anglaise! Dans ce dictionnaire il y a aussi l’extrait d’une encyclopédie qui note que "curfew" vient de l’ancien français. ou mieux de l’ancien anglo-normand. En effet "corfu" y est attesté au XIIIe siècle.
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"curfew" (n.), early 14c., "curfeu" = "evening signal", "ringing of a bell at a fixed hour" as a signal to extinguish fires and lights, from Anglo-French "coeverfu" (late 13c.), from Old French "cuevrefeu", literally "cover fire" (Modern French "couvre-feu"), from "cuevre", imperative of "covrir" = "to cover" (see "cover" (v.)) + "feu" = "fire" (see "focus" (n.)). Related: "Curfew-bell" (early 14c.).

The medieval practice of ringing a bell (usually at 8 or 9 p.m.) as an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep was to prevent conflagrations from untended fires. The modern extended sense of "periodic restriction of movement" had evolved by 1800s.

ide. "*wer-" (4): Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to cover".

It forms all or part of:

engl. "aperitif"

engl. "apertive"

engl. "aperture"

engl. "barbican"

engl. "cover"

engl. "covert"

engl. "curfew"

engl. "discover"

engl. "garage"

engl. "garment"

engl. "garnish"

engl. "garret"

engl. "garrison"

engl. "guarantee"

engl. "guaranty"

engl. "kerchief"

engl. "landwehr"

engl. "operculum"

engl. "overt"

engl. "overture"

engl. "pert"

engl. "warn"

engl. "warrant"

engl. "warrantee"

engl. "warranty"

engl. "warren"

engl. "wat"

engl. "Wehrmacht"

engl. "weir"

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by:

• Sanskrit "vatah" = "enclosure", "vrnoti" = "covers", "wraps", "shuts"
• Lithuanian "užveriu", "užverti" = "to shut", "to close"
• Old Persian "*pari-varaka" = "protective"
• Latin "(op)erire" = "to cover", "(ap)erire" ="open", "uncover" (with "ap-" = "off", "away")
• Old Church Slavonic "vora" = "sealed", "closed", "vreti" = "shut"
• Old Irish "feronn" = "field", properly "enclosed land"
• Old English "wer" = "dam", "fence", "enclosure"
• German "Wehr" = "defense", "protection"
• Gothic "warjan" = "to defend", "protect".

1945 A wartime midnight curfew on nightclubs, bars and other places of entertainment goes into effect in the U.S.

Sprache: "Corona(virus)" - "Ausgangssperre" - "Schutzmaske"

Englisch: "coronavirus" - "curfew", "curfew hours", "travel curfew" - mask

Holmes, John Haynes, 1879-1964

The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes - Volume 10: Before the Curfew (English) (as Author)

THURSDAY, 5 DECEMBER 2019

Covers, Discoveries, Handkerchiefs and Curfews

I have been considering the word "cover". This is partly because "The Etymologicon", "The Horologicon" and "The Elements of Eloquence" have been reprinted in a beautiful new edition, just in time for Christmas; and partly because I am an extraordinarily dull and lonely fellow.

I also have a cold, which is putting great strain on my collection of handkerchiefs. Now a "handkerchief" is obviously a "kerchief" that you hold "in your hand". That much is obvious. But it leaves the throbbing question of "What is a kerchief?".

Well a "chief" is a "head". That's true in English, is true in French (where the "head cook" is the "chef"), and it was true in medieval French where your "chief" was your "head". If, for some French reason, you wished to cover your "chief" you used a piece of cloth called a "cover-chief" or, in French a "couvrechief".

This was what we would call a "headscarf", but that's just a square of cloth really. So a "couvrechief" came into English as a "kerchief" and hence a "handkerchief" is, literally, a "handheld-cover-head". But I employ mine to blow my nose.

(Incidentally, the more obscure word for "blowing your nose" is "emunction". This may come in useful. 'Tis the season and all that. The Anglo-Saxon word for the practice was sniting, but I digress down needless nostrils).

The other thing that Medieval French people liked to cover were their fires. They did this at the end of the day to make the fire burn down to a smoulder. Then they would toddle off to bed. In the morning, they would stir the fire up to a blaze and have a nice French breakfast.

In French this was called the "couvre-feu", or "cover-fire". There used to be a bell that was rung to tell everybody that it was time to cover their fire and go to bed. This tolling bell became known in English as the "curfew". And hence a "curfew" is any "requirement to go to bed", whether ding-donged or not.

Anyway, the word "cover" has various other meanings and variations of varying mysteriousness. You can cover more ground by moving fast, you can cover for a colleague, a journalist can cover a subject (presumably in ink), and a gunman can have you covered. No amount of research has explained to me why a cover version is called that. But my favourite cover lingers in plain sight. It is the word "discover".

To "dis-cover" something is to "remove its cover". Once upon a time this could be used for anything. So a strong wind could discover a house, i.e. blow its roof off. A chef could discover a bowl. One could discover one's Christmas presents by unwrapping them. It is the sense of something that was once covered having its cover removed. This is rather beautiful when you think about it in its modern sense. The "discovery" of America, for example, suggests that there was a whole veiled continent, until Mr Columbus pulled the curtain away and discovered it.

POSTED BY M.H. FORSYTH

Definition

a law that does not allow people to go outside between a particular time in the evening and a particular time in the morning

the period of time during which people must not go outside according to a curfew law

Origin and usage

The noun "curfew" came into English from French words meaning "cover" and "fire". It has been in use since the late 13th century.

Examples

The origin of the word "curfew" lies in medieval health and safety restrictions. Since most buildings were made of flammable materials, households were ordered to cover or extinguish domestic fires and naked flames overnight to prevent them setting light to buildings while people were asleep. A bell was rung to indicate the time when this should be done. This meaning was later extended to refer to an order to people to stay indoors or the period when this was to be done, usually overnight.

While the term "curfew" is still being used in reference to the coronavirus pandemic, another more recent term, "lockdown", is often preferred. "Lockdowns" have been very much in the news recently, first with reference to other countries and now referring to the UK, where a government-ordered lockdown has been put in place that is severe, but less severe than in some other places. As currently used, "lockdown" refers to a situation in which most citizens are being asked or ordered to remain indoors, not for a few hours but for an extended period of weeks or even months, in order to try to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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14TH CENTURY: "curfew"

"curfew", noun

• 1: the sounding of a bell at evening
• 2 a: a regulation enjoining the withdrawal of usually specified persons (such as juveniles or military personnel) from the streets or the closing of business establishments or places of assembly at a stated hour
• 2 b: a requirement that someone (typically a child) be home by a particular time
• 2 c: a signal to announce the beginning of a curfew
• 2 d: the hour at which a curfew becomes effective
• 2 e: the period during which a curfew is in effect

Did you know?

In medieval Europe, a bell rang every evening at a fixed hour, and townspeople were required by law to cover or extinguish their hearth fires. It was the "cover fire" bell, or, as it was referred to in Anglo-French, "coverfeu" (from the French verb meaning "to cover", and the word for "fire"). By the time the English version, "curfew", appeared, the authorities no longer regulated hearth fires, but an evening bell continued to be rung for various purposes—whether to signal the close of day, an evening burial, or enforcement of some other evening regulation. This "bell ringing at evening" became the first English sense of "curfew". Not infrequently, the regulation signaled by the "curfew" involved regulating people's movement in the streets, and this led to the modern senses of the word.

What is the origin of "curfew"?

During the Middle Ages, houses in European towns were often made of wood and were close together, and fires could quickly spread from house to house. To prevent this, people were required to put out or cover their hearth fires by a certain time in the evening. A bell was rung as a signal when the time had come. In early French this signal was called "coverfeu", a compound of "covrir", meaning "to cover", and "feu" = "fire". Even when hearth fires were no longer regulated, many towns had other rules that called for the ringing of an evening bell, and this signal was still called "coverfeu". A common "coverfeu" regulation required people to be off the streets by a given time. That was the meaning of the word when it was borrowed into Middle English as "curfew".

In Cairo, a Curfew Against Chaos

BY ISSANDR EL AMRANI NOVEMBER 13, 2012 10:35 AM
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Limericks on "curfew"

We found 37 dictionaries with English definitions that include the word "curfew"

Shakespeare concordance: all instances of "curfew"

"curfew" occurs 3 times in 4 speeches within 4 works.

• King Lear (1)
• Measure for Measure (1)
• Romeo and Juliet (1)
• Tempest (1)

"curfew-bell" occurs 1 time in 1 speech within 1 work.

• Romeo and Juliet (1)

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The "curfew bell" has a long history. Although extinct for the most part, in the Derbyshire Peak district of the UK there is one place where it can still be heard. For almost 20 years it has been rung every Saturday night beginning on 29 September at 7 o'clock by the same person in the town of Castleton.

The tradition closes down for the year on Shrove Tuesday around the third week in February with an 11 am "Pancake Bell". The Pancake Bell is another old custom that occurs on the day after Ash Wednesday, also known as "Pancake Day".

The Castleton "curfew bell" used to be rung from the parish church to guide wayfarers safely towards a town or village as darkness fell, or when bad weather made it difficult to follow track ways. Originally though, the "curfew" was a signal to people to extinguish their lights and fires at the end of the day.

This was a safety measure to prevent accidental fires, dating from early medieval times when most buildings were made from timber. Until the year 1100 it was against the law to burn any lights after the ringing of the curfew bell.

The word "curfew" comes from the French "couvre-feu", the name of a cover which was used to smother a fire by cutting off the air.

So if you are within earshot of Castleton on a Saturday night between the end of September and Pancake Day, listen for the sound of the time when there were no motor cars, tarmac, street lights or mobile phones.
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"curfew" (n.) - Old form(s): "Curfewe", "Curphew" = "evening bell"

• MM IV.ii.72: [Provost to disguised Duke, responding to 'Who called here of late?'] None since the curfew rung
• Tem V.i.40: [Prospero alone] you ... that rejoice / To hear the solemn curfew

Last orders! The origins of the word "curfew"
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Steven Poole

Fri 25 Sep 2020 06.30 BST

In June Boris Johnson told the country it was our patriotic duty to go to the pub and spread the coronavirus: that having been an effective message, the government is now mandating the early closure of pubs and restaurants in what is being called a "curfew", as though it were the public and not the government who were a bunch of unruly children.

"Curfew" is a contraction of the original French "couvre-feu", meaning literally "cover the fire". In medieval Europe, it was common for a bell to be rung at a certain hour in the evening (often eight o’clock) indicating that all fires must be covered or put out, in order to prevent domestic fires from accidentally burning down whole villages or towns.

The term was subsequently borrowed to refer to a restriction on citizens’ movements after dark, but the traditional "ringing of curfew" by church bells persisted long after its original purpose, as in Grey’s "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard": "The curfew tolls the knell of parting day." Now it is tolling the knell of parting beer. One may doubt, though, that these curfews will suffice to put out the fire of the resurgent pandemic.

curfew / sundown town

Kansas City, Missouri sign indicating a nighttime curfew is in effect for minors, 2013

8 June 2020

A "curfew" is a law or regulation requiring that people be off the streets at a certain hour. Curfews can be either temporary or permanent, and they can apply to everyone or only to certain categories of people.

The word, like many English legal terms, comes from Anglo-Norman, the dialect of French spoken in England following the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Norman "coeverfeu", a compound of "couvre" (imperative form, "to cover") + "feu" ("fire"), an order that fires should be banked and lights extinguished. The word also applied to the tolling of bells that signaled the start of the "curfew". The French word appears in the 1285 Statutes for the City of London:
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"Curfew" appears in English by c. 1330 when it is used in the poem "The Seven Sages of Rome", found in the Auchinleck Manuscript, Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Advocates 19.2.1:
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"§"
frippery (W3)

• 1. finery in dress, especially when showy, gaudy, or the like.
• 2. empty display; ostentation.

"frippery", noun

• Ostentation, as in fancy clothing
• Something trivial
• (obsolete) Cast-off clothes.
• (obsolete) The place where old clothes are sold.
• Hence: secondhand finery; cheap and tawdry decoration; affected elegance.

Today's Good Word is almost an oxymoron: today it refers to elegant, even overelegant clothing, but we know that "frippery" started out referring to "old, worn-out clothing" or "the shop where such clothing is sold". This is the sense Shakespeare had in mind when he wrote, in "The Tempest" iv. l, ...
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Word History:

"Frippery" originally referred to rags of all sorts, to odds and ends. The word comes from French "friperie" = "second-hand clothes and furniture", from "fripe" = "a rag". "Fripe" evolved from Old French "frepe" = "old clothes" via an odd change even for French, from an older form "felpe". "Felpe" was the descendant of Medieval Latin "faluppa" = "rubbish". No one seems to know where "faluppa" came from.

"frippery", noun, Plural "fripperies".

• finery in dress, especially when showy, gaudy, or the like.
• empty display; ostentation.
• gewgaws; trifles.

Origin of "frippery"

1560–70; - French "friperie", Old French "freperie", equivalent to "frepe" = "rag" + "-erie" "-ery"

"frippery" (n.)

1560s, "old clothes", "cast-off garments", from French "friperie" = "old clothes", "an old clothes shop", from Old French "freperie", "feuperie" = "old rags", "rubbish", "old clothes" (13c.), from "frepe", "feupe" = "fringe"; "rags", "old clothes", from Late Latin "faluppa" = "chip", "splinter", "straw", "fiber". The notion is of "things worn down", "clothes rubbed to rags". The ironic meaning "finery" (but with overtones of tawdriness) dates from 1630s.

also from 1560s

1568: "frippery"

"frippery", noun

• 1 obsolete
• 1 a: cast-off clothes
• 1 b archaic : a place where old clothes are sold
• 2 a : FINERY - also : an elegant or showy garment
• 2 b: something showy, frivolous, or nonessential
• 2 c: OSTENTATION - especially : something foolish or affectedly elegant

Limericks on "frippery"
...
"frippery": something useless and unnecessary, yet attractive and enjoyable

Tempest [IV, 1] - Trinculo (Line 1967):

O, ho, monster! we know what belongs to a frippery.
O king Stephano!

engl. "frippery" = "something trivial or non-essential" = dt. "Firlefanz"

This word comes from the French "friperie", from Old French "freperie" = "old clothes", from "felpe", "frepe", from Medieval Latin "faluppa" = "worthless material".

"frippery"

Time to put on the glad rags: fillips and frills dripping with pretty things, fitted out like a flapper or preppy, fit for tripping the light fantastic or frittering time away. The tedious togs of daily wear are basic like milk; this is a frappé. This is "frippery".

But "frippery" is not just finery. We are not talking about the simple solid core of handsome apparel. "Frippery" flips and flaps and flops on the periphery. You can hear it in the word: the front of it is the fricative-liquid [fr?] of frills, fringe, fricassee, frisky, frisson, fritter, frizzy, and frivolous, with a French flavour; it bounces off the pp in the middle, skipping, tripping, hopping happily like a peppy puppy; it ends with [?ri] as in luxury, hosiery, millinery, periphery, and many others less related. The sound rebounds off the lips from liquid to liquid, flapping like a bit of lace or a nice tie.
...

"frippery" (n.): "second-hand clothes shop"

"frippery": [F. "friperie"] finery, esp. something showy, tawdry or nonessential; affected elegance: ostentation

Thursday, January 19th

frippery

That Old Rag Word of the Day:

Does this noun really have great sound sense, or does it just seem so because it lacks any modern relatives and has a very narrow meaning? Its root is "frepe", Old French for "old garment". "Frippery" is used today, always in a disparaging way, to label something needlessly showy or affectedly elegant.

...
"Frippery" comes from the French word "friperie" for "old clothes", and originally, "frippery" referred to old, trashy and maybe even tawdry clothes. From there, the word spread to include other kinds of things that aren't worth much. Often, "frippery" refers to nonsense, or language that is empty and just a lot of hot air. Use this word when you want to say something is showy but ultimately empty of value.
...

"frippery": Something showy, frivolous, or nonessential. From Middle French "friperie" = "old clothes store - Old French "frep" = "rag".

Frippery Definition

"§"
getwords.com
Words of French origin
Many words from French are used in English

• a bon marche, à bon marché (adverb) (not comparable)
• amateur (s) (noun), amateurs (pl)
• amateur (adjective), more amateur, most amateur
• argot (AR goh, AR guht) (s) (noun), argots (pl)
• armoire (s) (noun), armoires (pl)
• attache, attaché (s) (noun); attaches, attachés (pl)
• barrage (s) (noun), barrages (pl)
• beige (s) (noun) (uncountable)
• beige (adjective), more beige, most beige
• bete noir, bête noir (s) (noun); betes noirs, bêtes noirs (pl)
• blanch, blench (verb); blanches, blenches; blanched, blenched; blanching, blenching
• blasé (blah-ZAY) (adjective), more blasé, most blasé
• boutique (s) (noun), boutiques (pl)
• c'est la vie, cest la vie (say luh VEE) (French statement)
• cafe (s) (noun), cafes (pl)
• camouflage in the snow.
• camouflage (verb), camouflages; camouflaged; camouflaging
• carte blanche (kart BLAHNSH, kart BLAHNCH) (s) (noun) (no plural)
• causerie (s) (noun), causeries (pl)
• chassis (s) (noun), chassis (pl)
• chiffon (s) (noun), chiffons (pl)
• chiffon (adjective), more chiffon, most chiffon
• ci-devant (adjective) (not comparable)
• cigarette (s) (noun), cigarettes (pl)
• claque (s) (noun), claques (pl)
• claqueur (s) (noun), claqueurs (pl)
• collage (s) (noun), collages (pl)
• corsage (s) (noun), corsages (pl)
• coup de grace (s) (noun), coups de grace (pl)
• coupon (s) (noun), coupons (pl)
• crèche, creche (KRESH) (s) (noun); crèches (KRESH uhs) (pl)
• crepe (s) (noun), crepes (pl)
• croquet (s) (noun) (uncountable)
• debutante (s) (noun), debutantes (pl)
• déclassé, declasse (day kla SAY, day klas AY) (French) (adjective); more déclassé, more declasse; most déclassé, most declasse
• deluxe (adjective), more deluxe, most deluxe
• deluxe (adverb), more deluxe, most deluxe
• detour (s) (noun), detours (pl)
• ecru (adjective), more ecru, most ecru
• elite (s) (noun), elites (pl)
• encore (s) (noun), encores (pl)
• encore (verb), encores; encored; encoring
• entre nous (adverb), more entre nous, most entre nous
• entrée, entree (s) (noun); entrées, entrees (pl)
• escapade (s) (noun), escapades (pl)
• facade (s) (noun), facades (pl)
• fanfare (s) (noun), fanfares (pl)
• fete (s) (noun), fetes (pl)
• fete (verb), fetes; feted; feting
• flamboyant (s) (noun), flamboyants (pl)
• flamboyant (adjective), more flamboyant, most flamboyant
• fuselage (s) (noun), fuselages (pl)
• garage (s ) (noun), garages (pl)
• garage (verb), garages; garaged; garaging
• genre (s) (noun), genres (pl)
• glacier (s) (noun), glaciers (pl)
• gland (s) (noun), glands (pl)
• gouache (s) (noun), gouaches (pl)
• grandiose (adjective), more grandiose, most grandiose
• grille (s) (noun), grilles (pl)
• group (s) (noun), groups (pl)
• group (verb), groups, grouped, grouping
• haversack (s) (noun), haversacks (pl)
• helicopter (s) (noun), helicopters (pl)
• helicopter (verb), helicopters, helicoptered, helicoptering
• hors d’oeuvre (ohr DERV) (s) (noun), hors d’oeuvres (pl)
• impasse (s) (noun) (no plural)
• intrigue (s) (noun), intrigues (pl)
• iodine (s) (noun) (no plural)
• jeu (s) (noun), jeux (pl) From Old French geu-, gieu-, giu-
• jonquil (s) (noun) (no plural)
• kilo (s) (noun), kilos (pl)
• laissez-faire (adjective), more laissez-faire, most laissez-faire
• liaison (s) (noun), liaisons (pl)
• liter (s) (noun), liters (pl)
• luge (s) (noun), luges (pl)
• luge (verb), luges, luged, luging
• macaroon (s) (noun), macaroons (pl)
• maitre d'hotel (s) (noun), maitres d'hotel (pl)
• mascot (s) (noun), mascots (pl)
• melee (mêlée melée) (s) (noun), melees (pl)
• melodrama (s) (noun), melodramas (pl)
• menagerie (s) (noun), menageries (pl)
• menu (s) (noun), menus (pl)
• meringue (s) (noun), meringues (pl)
• métier, metier (s) (noun); métiers, metiers (pl)
• modiste (s) (noun), modistes (pl)
• monologue (s) (noun), monologues (pl)
• morale (s) (noun) (no plural)
• motif (noun), motifs (pl)
• moulage (s) (noun), moulages (pl)
• mousse (s) (noun), mousses (pl)
• nocturne (s) (noun), nocturnes (pl)
• noel (s) (noun), noels (pl)
• odometer (s) (noun), odometers (pl)
• organdy (s) (noun), organdies (pl)
• parachute (verb), parachutes; parachuted; parachuting
• passé, passe (adjective); more passé, more passe; most passé, most passe
• pedicure (s) (noun), pedicures (pl)
• pedometer (s) (noun), pedometers (pl)
• penurious (adjective), more penurious, most penurious
• penury, pénurie (s) (noun); penuries, pénuries (pl)
• perdu, perdue (adjective) (not comparable)
• personnel (s) (noun), personnel (pl)
• petite (adjective), more petite, most petite
• picnic (s) (noun), picnics (pl)
• pompon, pompom, pom-pom (s) (noun); pompons, pompoms, pom-poms (pl)
• poplin (s) (noun), poplins (pl)
• premiere (s) (noun), premieres (pl)
• premiere (verb), premieres; premiered; premiering
• protein (s) (noun), proteins (pl)
• quiche (s) (noun), quiches (pl)
• Quiche (s) (noun), Quiches (pl)
• ragout (s) (noun), ragouts (pl)
• ragout (verb), ragouts; ragouted; ragouting
• rappel (s) (noun), rappels (pl)
• rappel (verb), rappels; rappelled, rappeled; rappelling, rappeling
• rapport (s) (noun), reports (pl)
• rapprochement (s) (noun), rapprochements (pl)
• recruit (s) (noun), recruits (pl)
• recruit (verb), recruits; recruited; recruiting
• reveille (s) (noun) (no plural)
• revue (s) (noun), revues (pl)
• risqué, risque (adjective); more risqué, more risque; most risqué, most risque
• rococo (s) (noun) (no plural)
• role (s) (noun), roles (pl)
• sabotage (SAB uh tahzh") (s) (noun), sabotages (pl)
• sabotage (verb), sabotages; sabotaged; sabotaging
• saboteur (sahb" uh TUHR) (s) (noun), saboteurs (pl)
• savoir vivre (s) (noun) (no plural)
• savoir-faire (s) (noun), savoir-faire (pl)
• soi-disant (adjective) (not comparable)
• soigné, soigne (adjective) (not comparable)
• soirée, soiree (s) (noun); soirées, soirees (pl)
• sortie (s) (noun), sorties (pl)
• souvenir (s) (noun), souvenirs (pl)
• svelte (adjective), more svelte, most svelte
• table d'hote (s) (noun), tables d'hote (pl)
• tableau (s) (noun), tableaux (pl)
• technique (s) (noun), techniques (pl)
• toupee, toupée (s) (noun); toupees, toupées (pl)
• tour de force (s) (noun), tours de force (pl)
• tourniquet (s) (noun), tourniquets (pl)
• tout ensemble (s) (noun), (no plural)
• trapeze (s) (noun), trapezes (pl)
• triage (adjective) (not comparable)
• triage (s) (noun), triages (pl)
• triage (verb), triages; triaged; triaging
• troubadour (s) (noun), troubadours (pl)
• troupe (s) (noun), troupes (pl)
• valise (s) (noun), valises (pl)
• velour (s) (noun), velours (pl)
• visa (s) (noun), visas (pl)
• zigzag

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hotchpotch
hodgepodge (W3)

"Olio" means a miscellaneous mixture or "hodgepodge", such as in cooking.

It can also mean a miscellaneous collection of art or musical selections.

Altered from Spanish: "Olla" or Port. "Olha", "hotchpotch"

Latin: "olla" = "pot", "jar". Cookery origin.

"hodgepodge".

Also a jumble of different elements and originally a stew of various vegetables and meat, - the word is a variant of "hotchpotch", wherein the cooking pot is evident. "Mr. [Paul] Screvane found the report 'a hodgepodge of what everybody knows, of what others have said, and what some people have been whispering back of the hand' " (New York Times, 12/31/64).

special(i)ty, newspaper editing jargon and dogpile

Oct 4, 2007

As the title reveals, this post is a (AmE) "hodgepodge" / (BrE) "hotchpotch" of unrelated topics, which will serve the purpose of (a) finishing up the queries from April, and (b) writing a quick entry in a really busy week. (It's both Lynneukah [the joyous festival of Lynne] and week 1 of the university term. One of those is more entertaining than the other.)

Terry wrote back in April, pointing out that I'd failed (as I'm sure I often do) to mark a BrE/AmE difference that I'd used in passing: (AmE) "specialty" versus (BrE) "speciality". There's not much more to say about that, except that in BrE "specialty" is used in the field of medicine, at least according to the Oxford Dictionary of English.

But in the ensuing correspondence, Terry called my attention to quite a bit of newspaper editing jargon that differs between the US and the UK. Terry is a (BrE) "sub-editor" / (AmE) "copy editor", and the differences do not stop at the job title. Here are the ones he listed - and as far as I can tell, the American versions come first in this list:

... there's a surprising amount of difference in terminology between US papers and Brtitish ones: "slot" and "rim" (from where people sit at the horseshoe-shaped copy desk) versus "chief sub" and "down-table sub" for example, indicating American and British newspapers used differently shaped tables; "hed" versus "headline" and "lede" versus "intro" (ie opening sentence - a "lead" (pronounced [in the same way as] "lede") in BrE journalism, would mean the whole main story on a page, not just its intro); "cutline" for "caption", "graf" instead of "par" for paragraph, "refer" for "cross-ref", the line at the foot of a story that cross-refers to another story elsewhere in the paper, "slug" for "catchline", the short name given to a story for tracking purposes; "soft strip" for "strapline", a long subsidiary headline.
...

...
Three other words for "stew" derive from forms of French: "hotchpotch" (from the Anglo-French term meaning "to shake" combined with "pot"), which was altered to "hodgepodge"; "ragout", which comes from the French verb "ragoûter", meaning "to revive the taste" (the second syllable is related to "gusto", meaning "taste" or "enthusiasm", and "gustatory", meaning "relating to taste or tasting"); and "gallimaufry", from "galimafree", a Middle French term for "stew".
...

...
Interessant fand ich bei der Lektüre der alten sprachpflegerischen Schrift, dass neben einer Reihe von Anglizismen, die heute ganz unauffällig in allgemeinem Gebrauch sind wie "Boiler", "Film", "Partner", "Pudding" und "Safe" eine große Anzahl von entlehnten Ausdrücken getadelt werden, die im wilhelminischen Deutschland offensichtlich gern gebraucht wurden, derzeit aber in deutschen Kontexten kaum oder gar nicht mehr vorkommen.

Heutzutage würde man sich schwerlich mit seinen Bekannten zum "Luncheon" oder "Supper" im "Grill-room" verabreden, zu einer "Garden-Party" oder zum "Five o'clock tea" im häuslichen "Drawing-room", um den Kauf von "Shares" zu erörtern.

In Berlin und Dresden scheint dies noch vor hundert Jahren durchaus üblich gewesen zu sein. Solche Ausdrücke sind längst außer Gebrauch geraten wie auch "Havelock", "Ulster", "Ribbon Tie", "Mackintosh", "Fronts", "Knicker-bockers" und "Reefer", die man nicht mehr trägt, die "Dog-carts", "Gigs", "Breaks", "Tilburies" und "Broughams", mit denen kein Mensch mehr fährt, die Tänze "Two step", "Sir Roger" und "Cake walk", die kaum mehr jemand kennt, oder "Hotchpotch" und "Mock-turtel-soup", die man anders als "Rostbeef" und "Rumpsteak" auf hiesigen Speisekarten nicht mehr findet.

Dafür kannten Dunger und seine Zeitgenossen noch keine "Hamburger", "Cheeseburger" und "Hot-dogs", trugen kein "T-Shirt", "Sweat-Shirt", "Dress-Hemd", "Shorts" oder "Jeans", fuhren in ihrer Freizeit weder "Skateboard", "Mountainbike" noch "Inline-Skates" und diskutierten als Geschäftspartner sicher nicht darüber, ob sie das "Recyceln" demnächst "outsorcen" sollten.

Mit dem Kommen und Gehen mancher Sachen und Sachverhalte kommen und gehen offensichtlich auch die Wörter.
...

linguistics and lexicography • Love English

6 years ago - by Stan Carey

A "hotchpotch" of reduplication

"Argy-bargy" and "lovey-dovey" lie on opposite ends of the interpersonal scale, but they have something obvious in common: both are reduplicatives.

Reduplication is when a word or part of a word is repeated, sometimes modified, and added to make a longer term, such as "aye-aye", "mishmash", and "hotchpotch". This process can mark plurality or intensify meaning, and it can be used for effect or to generate new words. The added part may be invented or it may be an existing word whose form and sense are a suitable fit.

Reduplicatives emerge early in our language-learning lives. As infants in the babbling phase we reduplicate syllables to utter "mama", "dada", "nana" and "papa", which is where these pet names come from. Later we use "moo-moo", "choo-choo", "wee-wee" and "bow-wow" (or similar) to refer to familiar things. The repetition, as well as being fun, might help children develop and practise the pronunciation of sounds.

As childhood progresses, reduplicatives remain popular, popping up in children’s books, songs and rhymes. Many characters in children’s stories have reduplicated names: "Humpty Dumpty", "Chicken Licken" and "Handy Andy", to name a few.

Reduplication can be categorised as follows: exact or repeating reduplication ("bye-bye", "hush-hush", "goody-goody"), rhyming reduplication ("itsy-bitsy", "okey-dokey", "boogie woogie"), and ablaut reduplication ("chit-chat", "tip-top", "riff-raff"). "Ablaut" is a term introduced by Jacob Grimm; it refers to vowel change, which in reduplicatives often follows certain patterns: "zigzag", "knick-knack", "mingle-mangle", or "criss-cross", "flip-flop", "sing-song".

Clusters of letters recur, as in "shilly-shally", "dilly-dally", "silly billy" and "willy-nilly", while "h" is a common first letter, appearing thus in "helter-skelter", "heebie-jeebies", "hurdy-gurdy", "hurly-burly", "higgledy-piggledy", "hocus-pocus", and "hob-nob". Some reduplication is onomatopoetic or echoic: "pitter-patter", "splish splash", "ding-dong" and "tick-tock" are like miniature poems, popular with people of all ages who appreciate the playful evocation of the sound referred to.

In her paper "A crosslinguistic study of reduplication" (PDF), Shanthi Nadarajan writes that both repetition and reduplication ‘exist functionally and pragmatically in all types of everyday English’, and that while not all reduplication is meaningful, it is undoubtedly ‘interesting word play which can serve to enrich any language’.

Reduplication is for everyone, be they "arty-farty" or "fuddy-duddy", "ragbag" or "hoity-toity", "razzle-dazzle" or "nitty-gritty". You can use it on a "walkie-talkie", or to distract listeners from your "mumbo-jumbo". Chances are you’ve created your own examples of ‘shm-reduplication’, as in "fancy schmancy" or "rhyme shmyme" (both "shm–" and "schm–" are used). There’s nothing "wishy-washy" about my feelings for reduplication: I think it’s just "super-duper".

"gallimaufry"

Meaning: "hodgepodge"

If the word "gallimaufry" doesn't make your mouth water, it may be because you don't know its history. In the 16th century, Middle-French speaking cooks made a meat stew called "galimafree". It must have been a varied dish, because English speakers chose its name for any mix or jumble of things. If "gallimaufry" isn't to your taste, season your speech with one of its synonyms: "hash" (which can be a muddle or chopped meat and potatoes), "hotchpotch" (a stew or a "hodgepodge"), or "potpourri" (another stew turned medley).

...
Origin and Etymology of "hotchpotch"

Middle English "hochepot", from Anglo-French, from "hocher" "to shake" + "pot" "pot"

"hodgepodge": A mixture of many things, a conglomeration, a confused mess. The word, used since the late 15th century, derives from the French "hocher", “to shake together,” and "pot", “pot”, which yielded the French word "hochepot" for a stew made of many ingredients. "Hochepot" became "hotchpotch" and, finally, "hodgepodge" in English.

"hotchpotch": The jumbled "hotchpotch", or "hodgepodge", is thought to derive from the French "hochepot", a meaty stew containing a similarly random medley of ingredients.

See a map of "hotchpotch" in the Visual Thesaurus

"§"
ku.de - TFoMEL
The Fate of Middle English Loanwords from French

Seminararbeit von Diana Sklarzik -- PDF-Format

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marriage of convenience (W3)

• Das engl. "marriage of convenience" ist die Lehnübersetzung des frz. "mariage de convenance" (a marriage for expediency rather than love)
• Der frz. "gratte-ciel" und der dt. "Wolkenkratzer" sind Lehnübersetzungen des engl. "skyscraper".
• Das engl. "jiboney" = "a fool" ist (vermutlich) übernommen von dem ital. Dialektwort "giambone" = "ham" = "Schinken".

"§"
merriam-webster.com
8 Words We Stole from French
...some of which mean different things in English
12 French Phrases from Downton Abbey

• Esprit de l’escalier
• Outré
• Reconnoiter
• Louche
• Au courant
• Sabotage
• Gauche
• Entrepreneur

A Marker of Class

• En famille
• Mais où sont les neiges d’antan
• En déshabille
• En garde
• La belle dame sans merci
• Il ne manque que ça
• Pas devant les domestiques
• Idée fixe
• Reculer pour mieux sauter
• Fait accompli
• Volte-face
• Noblesse oblige

"§"
thoughtco.com - ToE
Terms of Enrichment: How French Has Influenced English
Their Intertwined History, and Shared Words and Expressions

...
History

Without going into too much detail, here is a little background about other languages that have also shaped English. The language grew out of the dialects of three German tribes (Angles, Jutes, and Saxons) who settled in Britain around 450 A.D. This group of dialects forms what we refer to as Anglo-Saxon, which gradually developed into Old English. The Germanic base was influenced in varying degrees by Celtic, Latin, and Old Norse.

Bill Bryson, a noted American linguist of the English language, calls the Norman conquest of 1066 the "final cataclysm [that] awaited the English language." When William the Conqueror became king of England, French took over as the language of the courts, administration, and literature—and stayed there for 300 years.
...
Grammar

Another rare but interesting remnant of French influence is in the word order of expressions like secretary general and surgeon general, where English has retained the noun + adjective word order typical in French, rather than the usual adjective + noun sequence used in English.
...
The following is a list of words and expressions of French origin that are commonly used in English.

• adieu "until God" - Used like "farewell": When you don't expect to see the person again until God (meaning when you die and go to Heaven)
• agent provocateur "provocative agent" - A person who attempts to provoke suspected individuals or groups into committing unlawful acts
• aide-de-camp "camp assistant" - A military officer who serves as a personal assistant to a higher-ranking officer
• aide-mémoire "memory aid" - 1. Position paper - 2. Something that acts as an aid to memory, such as crib notes or mnemonic devices
• à la française "in the French manner" - Describes anything done the French way
• allée "alley, avenue" - A path or walkway lined with trees
• amour-propre "self love" - Self-respect
• après-ski "after skiing" - The French term actually refers to snow boots, but the literal translation of the term is what is meant in English, as in "après-ski" social events.
• à propos (de) "on the subject of" - In French, à propos must be followed by the preposition de. In English, there are four ways to use apropos (note that in English, we've done away with the accent and the space): - Adjective: appropriate, to the point. "That's true, but it's not apropos." - Adverb: at an appropriate time, opportunely. "Fortunately, he arrived apropos." - Adverb/Interjection: by the way, incidentally. "Apropos, what happened yesterday?" - Preposition (may or may not be followed by "of"): with regard to, speaking of. "Apropos our meeting, I'll be late.""He told a funny story apropos of the new president."
• attaché "attached" - A person assigned to a diplomatic post
• au contraire "on the contrary" - Usually used playfully in English.
• au fait "conversant, informed" - "Au fait" is used in British English to mean "familiar" or "conversant": She's not really au fait with my ideas, but it has other meanings in French.
• au naturel "in reality, unseasoned" - In this case naturel is a semi-false cognate. In French, au naturel can mean either "in reality" or the literal meaning of "unseasoned" (in cooking). In English, we picked up the latter, less common usage and use it figuratively, to mean natural, untouched, pure, real, naked.
• au pair "at par" - A person who works for a family (cleaning and/or teaching the children) in exchange for room and board
• avoirdupois "goods of weight" - Originally spelled averdepois
• bête noire "black beast" - Similar to a pet peeve: something that is particularly distasteful or difficult and to be avoided.
• billet-doux "sweet note" - Love letter
• blond, blonde "fair-haired" - This is the only adjective in English that agrees in gender with the person it modifies: Blond is for a man and blonde for a woman. Note that these can also be nouns.
• bon mot, bons mots "good word(s)" - Clever remark, witticism
• bon ton "good tone" - Sophistication, etiquette, high society
• bon vivant "good 'liver'" - Someone who lives well, who knows how to enjoy life.
• bon voyage "good trip" - In English, it would be, "Have a good trip," but Bon voyage is considered more elegant.
• bric-a-brac - The correct French spelling is bric-à-brac. Note that bric and brac don't actually mean anything in French; they are onomatopoetic.
• brunette "small, dark-haired female" - The French word brun, dark-haired, is what English really means by "brunette." The suffix -ette indicates that the subject is small and female.
• carte blanche "blank card" - Free hand, ability to do whatever you want/need
• cause célèbre "famous cause" - A famous, controversial issue, trial, or case
• cerise "cherry" - The French word for the fruit gives us the English word for the color.
• c'est la vie "that's life" - Same meaning and usage in both languages
• chacun à son goût "each one to his own taste" - This is the slightly twisted English version of the French expression à chacun son goût.
• chaise longue "long chair" - In English, this is often mistakenly written as "chaise lounge," which actually makes perfect sense.
• chargé d'affaires "charged with business" - A substitute or replacement diplomat
• cherchez la femme "look for the woman" - Same problem as always
• cheval-de-frise "Frisian horse" - Barbed wire, spikes, or broken glass attached to wood or masonry and used to block access
• cheval glace "horse mirror" - A long mirror set into a moveable frame
• comme il faut "as it must" - The proper way, as it should be
• cordon sanitaire "sanitary line" - Quarantine, buffer zone for political or medical reasons.
• coup de foudre "bolt of lightning" - Love at first sight
• coup de grâce "mercy blow" - Deathblow, final blow, decisive stroke
• coup de main "stroke of hand" - Somehow the English meaning (surprise attack) got completely separated from the French meaning, which is assistance, helping hand.
• coup de maître "master stroke" - A stroke of genius
• coup de théâtre "stroke of the theater" - Sudden, unexpected turn of events in a play
• coup d'etat "state blow" - Overthrow of the government. Note that the last word is capitalized and accented in French: coup d'État.
• coup d'œil "stroke of the eye" - A glance
• cri de cœur "cry of heart" - The correct way to say "heartfelt cry" in French is cri du cœur (literally, "cry of the heart")
• crime passionnel "passionate crime" - Crime of passion
• critique "critical, judgment" - Critique is an adjective and noun in French, but a noun and verb in English; it refers to a critical review of something or the act of performing such a review.
• cul-de-sac "bottom (butt) of the bag" - Dead-end street
• debutante "beginner" - In French, débutante is the feminine form of débutant, beginner (noun) or beginning (adj). In both languages, it also refers to a young girl making her formal début into society. Interestingly, this usage is not original in French; it was adopted back from English.
• déjà vu "already seen" - This is a grammatical structure in French, as in Je l'ai déjà vu > I've already seen it. In English, déjà vu refers to the phenomenon of feeling like you've already seen or done something when you're sure that you haven't.
• demimonde "half world" - In French, it's hyphenated: demi-monde. In English, there are two meanings: - 1. A marginal or disrespectful group - 2. Prostitutes and/or kept women
• de rigueur "of rigueur" - Socially or culturally obligatory
• de trop "of too much" - Excessive, superfluous
• Dieu et mon droit "God and my right" - Motto of the British monarch
• divorcé, divorcée "divorced man, divorced woman" - In English, the feminine, divorcée, is far more common, and is often written without the accent: divorcee
• double entendre "double hearing" - A word play or pun. For example, you're looking at a field of sheep and you say "How are you (ewe)?"
• droit du seigneur "right of the lord of the manor" - The feudal lord's right to deflower his vassal's bride
• du jour "of the day" - "Soup du jour" is nothing more than an elegant-sounding version of "soup of the day."
• embarras de richesse, richesses "embarrassement of wealth/richness" - Such an overwhelming amount of good fortune that it's embarrassing or confusing
• emigré "expatriate, migrant" - In English, this tends to indicate exile for political reasons
• en banc "on the bench" - Legal term: indicates that the entire membership of a court is in session.
• en bloc "in a block" - In a group, all together
• encore "again" - A simple adverb in French, "encore" in English refers to an additional performance, usually requested with audience applause.
• enfant terrible "terrible child" - Refers to a troublesome or embarrassing person within a group (of artists, thinkers, and the like).
• en garde "on guard" - Warning that one should be on his/her guard, ready for an attack (originally in fencing).
• en masse "in mass" - In a group, all together
• en passant "in passing" - in passing, by the way; (chess) the capturing of a pawn after a specific move
• en prise "in grasp" - (chess) exposed to capture
• en rapport "in agreement" - agreeable, harmonious
• en route "on route" - On the way
• en suite "in sequence" - Part of a set, together
• entente cordiale "cordial agreement" - Friendly agreements between countries, especially those signed in 1904 between France and the UK
• entrez vous "come in" - English speakers often say this, but it's wrong. The correct way to say "come in" in French is simply entrez.
• esprit de corps "group spirit" - Similar to team spirit or morale
• esprit d'escalier "stairway wit" - Thinking of an answer or comeback too late
• fait accompli "done deed" - "Fait accompli" is probably a bit more fatalistic than merely "done deed."
• faux pas "false step, trip" - Something that should not be done, a foolish mistake.
• femme fatale "deadly woman" - An alluring, mysterious woman who seduces men into compromising situations
• fiancé, fiancée "engaged person, betrothed" - Note that fiancé refers to a man and fiancée to a woman.
• fin de siècle "end of the century" - Refers to the end of the 19th century
• folie à deux "craziness for two" - Mental disorder that occurs simultaneously in two people with a close relationship or association.
• force majeure "great force" - An unexpected or uncontrollable event, like a tornado or war, that prevents a contract from being fulfilled.
• gamine "playful, little girl" - Refers to an impish or playful girl/woman.
• garçon "boy" - Once upon a time, it was acceptable to call a French waiter garçon, but those days are long gone.
• gauche "left, awkward" - Tactless, lacking social grace
• genre "type" - Used mostly in art and film. as in, "I really like this genre."
• giclée "squirt, spray" - In French, giclée is a general term for a small amount of liquid; in English, it refers to a particular type of inkjet print using a fine spray, and the accent is usually dropped: giclee
• grand mal "great illness" - Severe epilepsy. Also see petit mal
• haute cuisine "high cuisine" - High-class, fancy and expensive cooking or food
• honi soit qui mal y pense - Shame on anyone who thinks evil of it
• hors de combat "out of combat" - Out of action
• idée fixe "set idea" - Fixation, obsession
• je ne sais quoi "I don't know what" - Used to indicate a "certain something," as in "I really like Ann. She has a certain je ne sais quoi that I find very appealing."
• joie de vivre "joy of living" - The quality in people who live life to the fullest
• laissez-faire "let it be" - A policy of non-interference. Note the expression in French is laisser-faire.
• ma foi "my faith" - Indeed
• maître d', maître d'hôtel "master of, master of hotel" - The former is more common in English, which is strange since it is incomplete. Literally, it is: "The 'master of' will show you to your table."
• mal de mer "sickness of sea" - Seasickness
• mardi gras "fat Tuesday" - Celebration before Lent
• ménage à trois "household of three" - Three people in a relationship together; a threesome
• mise en abyme "putting into (an) abyss" - An image repeated within its own image, as with two facing mirrors.
• mot juste "right word" - Exactly the right word or expression.
• née "born" - Used in genealogy to refer to a woman's maiden name: Anne Miller née (or nee) Smith.
• noblesse oblige "obligated nobility" - The idea that those who are noble are obliged to act noble.
• nom de guerre "war name" - Pseudonym
• nom de plume "pen name" - This French phrase was coined by English speakers in imitation of nom de guerre.
• nouveau riche "new rich" - Disparaging term for someone who has recently come into money.
• oh là là "oh dear" - Usually misspelled and mispronounced "ooh la la" in English.
• oh ma foi "oh my faith" - Indeed, certainly, I agree
• par excellence "by excellence" - Quintessential, preeminent, the best of the best
• pas de deux "step of two" - Dance with two people
• passe-partout "pass everywhere" - 1. Master key - 2. (Art) mat, paper, or tape used to frame a picture
• petit "small" - (law) lesser, minor
• petit mal "small illness" - Relatively mild epilepsy. Also see grand mal
• petit point "little stitch" - Small stitch used in needlepoint.
• pièce de résistance "piece of stamina" - In French, this originally referred to the main course, or the test of your stomach's stamina. In both languages, it now refers to an outstanding accomplishment or the final part of something, as a project, a meal, or the like.
• pied-à-terre "foot on ground" - A temporary or secondary place of residence.
• Plus ça change "More it changes" - The more things change (the more they stay the same)
• porte cochère "coach gate" - Covered gate through which cars drive and then stop temporarily to allow passengers to enter a building without getting rained upon.
• potpourri "rotten pot" - A scented mixture of dried flowers and spices; a miscellaneous group or collection
• prix fixe "fixed price" - Two or more courses at a set price, with or without options for each course. Though the term is French, in France, a "prix fixe menu" is simply called le menu.
• protégé "protected" - Someone whose training is sponsored by an influential person.
• raison d'être "reason for being" - Purpose, justification for existing
• rendez-vous "go to" - In French, this refers to a date or an appointment (literally, it is the verb se rendre [to go] in the imperative); in English we can use it as a noun or a verb (let's rendez-vous at 8 p.m.).
• repartee "quick, accurate response" - The French repartie gives us the English "repartee," with the same meaning of a swift, witty, and "right on" retort.
• risqué "risked" - Suggestive, overly provocative
• roche moutonnée "rolled rock" - Mound of bedrock smoothed and rounded by erosion. Mouton by itself means "sheep."
• rouge "red" - The English refers to a reddish cosmetic or metal/glass-polishing powder and can be a noun or a verb.
• RSVP "respond please" - This abbreviation stands for Répondez, s'il vous plaît, which means that "Please RSVP" is redundant.
• sang-froid "cold blood" - The ability to maintain one's composure.
• sans "without" - Used mainly in academia, although it's also seen in the font style "sans serif," which means "without decorative flourishes."
• savoir-faire "knowing how to do" - Synonymous with tact or social grace.
• soi-disant "self saying" - What one claims about oneself; so-called, alleged
• soirée "evening" - In English, refers to an elegant party.
• soupçon "suspicion" - Used figuratively like hint: There's just a soupçon of garlic in the soup.
• souvenir "memory, keepsake" - A memento
• succès d'estime "success of estime" - Important but unpopular success or achievement
• succès fou "crazy success" - Wild success
• tableau vivant "living picture" - A scene composed of silent, motionless actors
• table d'hôte "host table" - 1. A table for all guests to sit together - 2. A fixed-price meal with multiple courses
• tête-à-tête "head to head" - A private talk or visit with another person
• touché "touched" - Originally used in fencing, now equivalent to "you got me."
• tour de force "turn of strength" - Something that takes a great deal of strength or skill to accomplish.
• tout de suite "right away" - Due to the silent e in de, this is often misspelled "toot sweet" in English.
• vieux jeu "old game" - Old-fashioned
• vis-à-vis (de) "face to face" - In English vis-à-vis or vis-a-vis means "compared to" or "in relation with": vis-a-vis this decision means vis-à-vis de cette décision. Note than in French, it must be followed by the preposition de.
• Vive la France ! "(Long) live France" Essentially the French equivalent of saying "God bless America."
• Voilà ! "There it is!" - Take care to spell this correctly. It is not "voilá" or "violà."
• Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir ? "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" - An unusual phrase in that English speakers use it far more than French speakers.

French Words and Phrases Related to the Arts

French - English (literal) - Explanation

• art déco - decorative art - Short for art décoratif. A movement in art of the 1920s and 1930s characterized by bold outlines and geometric and zigzag forms.
• art nouveau - new art - A movement in art, characterized by flowers, leaves, and flowing lines.
• aux trois crayons - with three crayons - Drawing technique using three colors of chalk.
• avant-garde - before guard - Innovative, especially in the arts, in the sense of before everyone else.
• bas-relief - low relief/design - Sculpture that is only slightly more prominent than its background.
• belle époque - beautiful era - The golden age of art and culture in the early 20th century.
• chef d'œuvre - chief work - Masterpiece.
• cinéma vérité - cinema truth - Unbiased, realistic documentary filmmaking.
• film noir - black movie - Black is a literal reference to the stark black-and-white cinematography style, though films noirs tend to be dark figuratively as well.
• fleur-de-lis, fleur-de-lys - flower of lily - A type of iris or an emblem in the shape of an iris with three petals.
• matinée - morning - In English, indicates the day's first showing of a movie or play. Can also refer to a midday romp with one's lover.
• objet d'art - art object - Note that the French word objet does not have a c. It is never "object d'art."
• papier mâché - mashed paper - Novel with real people appearing as fictional characters.
• roman à clés - novel with keys - A long, multivolume novel that presents the history of several generations of a family or community. In both French and English, saga tends to be used more.
• roman-fleuve - novel river - A long, multivolume novel that presents the history of several generations of a family or community. In both French and English, saga tends to be used more.
• trompe l'œil - trick the eye - A painting style that uses perspective to trick the eye into thinking it is real. In French, trompe l'œil can also refer in general to artifice and trickery.

French Ballet Terms Used in English

French has also given English scores of words in the domain of ballet. The literal meanings of the adopted French words are below.

French - English

• barre - bar
• chaîné - chained
• chassé - chased
• développé - developed
• effacé - shaded
• pas de deux - two step
• pirouette - chained
• plié - bent
• relevé - lifted

Food and Cooking Terms

In addition to the below, French has given us the following food-related terms: blanch (to lighten in color, parboil; from blanchir), sauté (fried over high heat), fondue (melted), purée (crushed), flambée (burned).

French - English (literal) - Explanation

• à la carte - on the menu - French restaurants usually offer a menu with choices for each of the several courses at a fixed price. If you want something else (a side order), you order from the carte. Note that menu is a false cognate in French and English.
• au gratin - with gratings - In French, au gratin refers to anything that is grated and put on top of a dish, like breadcrumbs or cheese. In English, au gratin means "with cheese."
• à la minute - to the minute - This term is used in restaurant kitchens for dishes that are cooked to order, rather than made ahead of time.
• apéritif - cocktail - From Latin, "to open".
• au jus - in the juice - Served with the meat's natural juices.
• bon appétit - good appetite - The closest English equivalent is "Enjoy your meal."
• café au lait - coffee with milk - Same thing as the Spanish term café con leche
• cordon bleu - blue ribbon - Master chef
• crème brûlée - burnt cream - Baked custard with carmelized crust
• crème caramel - caramel cream - Custard lined with caramel like a flan
• crème de cacao - cream of cacao - Chocolate-flavored liqueur
• crème de la crème - cream of the cream - Synonymous with the English expression "cream of the crop" - refers to the best of the best.
• crème de menthe - cream of mint - Mint-flavored liqueur
• crème fraîche - fresh cream - This is a funny term. Despite its meaning, crème fraîche is in fact slightly fermented, thickened cream.
• cuisine - kitchen, food style - In English, cuisine refers only to a particular type of food/cooking, such as French cuisine, Southern cuisine, etc.
• demitasse - half cup - In French, it's hyphenated: demi-tasse. Refers to a small cup of espresso or other strong coffee.
• dégustation - tasting - The French word simply refers to the act of tasting, while in English "degustation" is used for a tasting event or party, as in wine or cheese tasting.
• en brochette - on (a) skewer - Also known by the Turkish name: shish kebab
• fleur de sel - flower of salt - Very fine and expensive salt.
• foie gras - fat liver - The liver of a force-fed goose, considered a delicacy.
• hors d'œuvre - outside of work - An appetizer. Œuvre here refers to the main work (course), so hors d'œuvre simply means something besides the main course.
• nouvelle cuisine - new cuisine - Cooking style developed in the 1960's and 70's that emphasized lightness and freshness.
• petit four - little oven - Small dessert, especially cake.
• vol-au-vent - flight of the wind - In both French and English, a vol-au-vent is a very light pastry shell filled with meat or fish with sauce.

Fashion and Style

French - English (literal) - Explanation

• à la mode - in fashion, style - In English, this means "with ice cream," an apparent reference to a time when ice cream on pie was the fashionable way to eat it.
• BCBG - good style, good sort - Preppy or posh, short for bon chic, bon genre.
• chic - stylish - Chic sounds more chic than "stylish."
• crêpe de Chine - Chinese crepe - Type of silk.
• décolletage, décolleté - low neckline, lowered neckline - The first is a noun, the second an adjective, but both refer to low necklines on women's clothing.
• démodé - out of fashion - Same meaning in both languages: outmoded, out of fashion.
• dernier cri - last cry - The newest fashion or trend.
• eau de cologne - water from Cologne - This is often cut down to simply "cologne" in English. Cologne is the French and English name for the German city Köln.
• eau de toilette - toilet water - Toilet here does not refer to a commode. See "toilette" in this list. Eau de toilette is a very weak perfume.
• faux - false, fake - As in faux jewels.
• haute couture - high sewing - High-class, fancy and expensive clothing.
• passé - past - Old-fashioned, out-of-date, past its prime.
• peau de soie - skin of silk - Soft, silky fabric with a dull finish.
• petite - small, short - It may sound chic, but petite is simply the feminine French adjective meaning "short" or "small."
• pince-nez - pinch-nose - Eyeglasses clipped to the nose
• prêt-à-porter - ready to wear - Originally referred to clothing, now sometimes used for food.
• savoir-vivre - to know how to live - Living with sophistication and an awareness of good etiquette and style
• soigné - taken care of - 1. Sophisticated, elegant, fashionable - 2. Well-groomed, polished, refined
• toilette - toilet - In French, this refers both to the toilet itself and anything related to toiletries; thus the expression "to do one's toilette," meaning to brush hair, do makeup, etc.

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English terms borrowed from French

Pages in category "English terms borrowed from French"

The following 200 pages are in this category, out of 4,006 total.

• A | à bas | à bouche | à contrecœur | à deux | a go-go | à gogo | a la | à la | a la carte | à la carte | a la minute | a la mode | à la russe | à outrance | à propos de bottes | à trois | -a- | abacost | abaissé | abandon | abandonment | abaque | abat-vent | abat-voix | abatis | abatjour | abatsons | abattage | abattoir | abbé | Abbeville | abduction | Abenaki | abime | ablegate | ablet | abonné | abonnement | abordage | abrasion | abreuvoir | abri | Abri Audit | absinthe | abstention | abstruse | academist | acajou | acclimate | accolade | accolé | accomplishment | accouchement | accoucheur | accoucheuse | accouplement | accouter | accusator | acerbity | acetylene | ache | acidification | acieration | aconite | acouchi | acoustic | acquiescence | acquis | acquis communautaire | Acre | acte clair | acte gratuit | actinium | adaptation | adaptee | Adelaide | Adele | admirative | adoptee | adorable | adret | adroit | aeronautics | aeroplane | affaire d'honneur | affiche | affineur | affranchi | affronté | agacerie | agami | agent provocateur | agente provocatrice | agents provocateurs | aggrandize | aggression | agiotage | agitation | agonic | agraffe | agrément | agrémens | aide | aide-de-camp | aide-mémoire | aigrette | aiguille | aileron | ailette | Aimee | aioli | air de cour | air du temps | -aire | ajutage | ala | alban | Albert | Albertine | albicore | albumin | alcohol | alcool | alcove | alembic | Alençon | Alep | alépine | alert | alevin | alexanders | Alexis | alidade | aligot | aligoté | aliment | Alina | Aline | alizari | alizarin | allée | allemande | alley oop | alloglot | allonge | almadie | almucantar | Alphonse | altercation | alternat | altruism | amain | amaranth | amateur | ambassade | ambassadry | ambiance | ambigu | ambrette | ambulance | ambulancier | ambuscade | amende | amende honorable | amical | amidin | ammunition | amniotic | amollishment | amour | amour propre | amourette | ampère | amphigory | ampoule | amuse-bouche | amusement | anacyclic | analphabete | ananas | anatase | anatron | Ancien Régime | ancien régime | andouille | anecdote | angary | angélique | angelot | anhedonia | animalier | animality | anime | animé | anisette | Anjouan | annalist | Annam | Annette | annex | anomie | antibiotic | antipodism | antipodist | antique | Antoine | aoudad | apartment | aperçu | apéritif | aplomb | aplome | apogee | apologue | apology | apoplectic | appaumé | appel | apperception | appertisation | appliqué | appui | apres | après | après-ski | apropos | aquarelle | Aquitaine | arabesque | arachnid | arbitrage | arbitrager | arbitrageur | arbor | arborescence | arbust | Arc de Triomphe | arc-boutant | arcade | arcature | Arceneaux | archduchess | archetier | archiater | archimandrite | architecture | areic | areole | arête | argot | ariette | Arkansas | Arlon | Armagnac | armet | armoire | arpent | arquebusade | arrestation | arrière-garde | arrière-pensée | arriviste | arrondissement | Art Deco | Art Nouveau | artisan | artiste | artistic | ascendeur | aspic | aspirant | assart | assassin | assemblage | assiette | Assiniboine | assise | assonance | Asterix | astrologue | atelier | atrophy | attaché | attachment | attaché case | attack | attentisme | attic | attitude | au contraire | au courant | au fait | au gratin | au jus | au naturel | au pair | au revoir | aubade | Aube | auberge | aubergine | aubergiste | Aubin | Aucoin | Aude | Audet | auguste | auteur | autoclave | autocrat | autofiction | autogestion | automatic | automobile | autoroute | autotomy | Auvergne | aval | avalanche | avant la lettre | avant-garde | aven | aventurine | avenue | avertissement | avertissement nucléaire | aviation | Avignon | avocat | avoyer | Avril | axunge | Ayn | azedarach | azote |
• B | baba au rhum | babiroussa | babouche | babul | bac | baccalaureat | baccalaureate | baccarat | back | backet | bacteriophage | badaud | badelaire | badian | badigeon | badinage | badine | badinerie | bagasse | bagatelle | bague | baguette | bahut | bail | bain-marie | baisemains | bakeapple | balancelle | balayage | balayeuse | balcon | baldacchin | baldaquin | balise | ball | ballad | ballade | balladine | ballet | balletomane | ballon | ballon d'essai | ballonet | ballonnement | ballottement | baluster | balustrade | banal | banality | bancassurance | bandage | bandeau | bandy | banlieue | banneret | banneton | banquette | baragouin | barbastelle | barbet | barbette | barbotine | barcarole | Bardet | barège | | | B | bariolage | Baroque | baroque | barrack | barrage | barre | barre chord | barrette | barricade | barrique | bas-relief | Bas-Rhin | bascule | basilar | Basque | basque | bassoon | bastide | bastille | bat | batardeau | bateau | bateleur | bathyscaphe | baton | battement | batterie | batterie de cuisine | battu | battue | baud | Baumé | bavaroise | bavette | bayadère | bayard | BD | BEA | Béarnais | beau | beau geste | beau idéal | beau joueur | beau monde | beau sabreur | Beauchamp | beaucoup | Beaudoin | Beaujolais | Beaumont | beaux-arts | béchamel | béchamel sauce | bêche-de-mer | becquerel | bedeguar | bedlamer | beef bourguignon | Beghard | begonia | béguin | beguinage | beige | beignet | bel esprit | Belainsky | Beland | belandre | Beliveau | Belle Époque | belle sabreuse | Bellefontaine | belles-lettres | belote | Benedictine | bengaline | Beninois | benitier | berceuse | berdache | beret | bergamot | bergerette | berline | berlingot | besaiel | Besançon | Besson | bête de scène | bête noire | bêtise | Bettencourt | beurrage | Beurré | beurre manié | bezique | biandry | bias | bibelot | bibliotheke | bichon | Bichon Frisé | bicycle | bidon | bien pensant | Bienaime | bienséance | bigarade | bigot | bijou | bikini | bilboquet | billet-doux | billeté | billiard | billiards | billion | billon | billot | binocular | biscornu | biscotin | biset | bisque | Bisson | Bissonnet | Bissonnette | bistoury | bistre | bistro | bivouac | bizarre | bizarrerie | blague | blanc | Blanc de Hotot | Blanchard | Blanchet | Blanchett | Blanchette | blanquette | blasé | bled | blessure | blet | bleu celeste | bliaut | blindage | bloc | blocage | Blois | blouson | bobbin | bobèche | bobo | bocal | bocasine | Boiron | Bois Caïman | bois d'arc | bois durci | Boisbriand | bolide | bolognaise | bomb | Bombardier | bombardon | bombe | bombé | Bon Accord | bon appétit | bon mot | bon ton | bon vivant | bon voyage | bon-vivant | bonbon | bonbonniere | Bonchrétien | bondieuserie | bonduc | bone | Bône | bonheur du jour | bonhomie | bonne | bonne bouche | bonze | boo-boo | bookoo | borborygm | Bordeaux | bordelaise | bordereau | bosket | bossale | bottine | boubou | Bouchard | bouche | B | bouchée | Boucher | boudin | boudinage | boudoir | Boudreaux | bouffage | bouffant | bouffe | Bougainville | bougie | bouillabaisse | bouilli | bouillon | boulangerie | boule | boulevard | boulevardier | bouleversement | bouquet | bouquet garni | bouquetin | Bourdain | bourdon | bourgeois | bourgeoise | bourgeoisie | Bourget | Bourguignon | bourn | bourrée | bourse | bousillage | boutade | Boutilier | boutique | bouton | boutonniere | boutonnière | bouts-rimés | bouvier des Flandres | boyau | braggart | braise | brancard | branchage | braquemard | bras d'honneur | brassard | brasserie | brassiere | brelan | bretelle | briar | bric-a-brac | bric-à-brac | bricolage | bricole | bricoleur | bride | brie | Brie | Brienne | brigade | brigadier | brigue | brilliance | brilliant | brioche | briquetage | briquette | brise soleil | brise-bise | brisement | brisque | brisure | brocard | brocatel | brocatelle | broche | brochette | brochure | broché | brodequin | broderie | bronze | brouhaha | Broussard | bruit | Brumaire | brume | brunaille | brunet | brunette | brunion | brunoise | brusque | brusquerie | brut | buccan | buccaneer | buffet | buffont | buisson | bulletin | burbot | bureau | bureau de change | burette | burin | burlesque | burnoose | buro | buron | bushwah | busk | bustier | butte | butyric | béarnaise |
• C | cabaret | cabas | cabécou | cabernet | cabochon | cabotage | cabotinage | cabré | cabriole | Cabriole leg | cabriolet | cachalot | cache | cache-sexe | cachepot | cachet | cachou | cadastral | cadastre | Cadillac | cadre | cafard | café | café au lait | café noir | café noisette | café-chantant | caféteria | cafétéria | cafetière | caffeine | caffîn | café liégois | cagoule | cahier | cahoot | cahoots | caique | caïquejee | caisson | cajole | calade | Calais | calambac | calamine | calamint | calander | calèche | | calin | calligram | calligraphy | Callovian | calorie | calorifere | calotte | caloyer | calque | camaieu | camaraderie | cambré | camion | camisole | camouflage | camouflet | camous | Canada | canaille | canapé | canapés | canard | canary | cancan | cancaneuse | canelé | canelés | cannelure | Cannes | cantatrice | canteen | C | cantinière | caoutchouc | cape | capilotade | capitalism | capitalist | capitoulat | caporal | capote | Cappe | caprice | capricious | capsule | capuchin | caracal | caracole | carafe | caramel | carapace | carbon | carcajou | careen | caress | caret | cargason | caricature | caricaturesque | carillon | carillonneur | cariole | carmagnole | carnet | carnivore | caroche | carotte | carousel | Carpentier | Carré de l'Est | carte | carte blanche | carte de visite | carte soleil | cartel | cartilagineous | carton | carton-pierre | cartouche | cartridge | casaquin | casein | casemate | cashew | cashier | casque | cassation | casserole | cassette | cassis | cassolette | cassonade | cassoulet | catafalque | catalogue raisonné | catechumen | category | Catherine | catheter | causeuse | cavalcade | caviar | CCITT | cedule | ceinture | celadon | celerifere | celeripede | celery | celesta | celeste | Celestin | Celine | cellulose | Celtic | cendrée | centime | centimetre | centrifuge | cep | cépage | cepe | cephalopod | -cephaly | cerclage | cereal | cerebral | cerebral hemorrhage | cerement | cerise | c'est la vie | chabrette | chaconne | chacun à son goût | chadon beni | chagrin | chaise | chaise longue | chaldron | chalet | châlet | chalumeau | cham | chamade | chambranle | chambré | chamotte | champ | champ clos | Champagne | champagne | Champenois | champignon | Champlain | champlevé | champlevés | chancre | chandelier | chandelle | Chanel | chanson | chansonnette | chansonnier | chant royal | chantage | chantefable | chanterelle | chanteuse | Chantilly | Chaource | chapeau | chapé | charabanc | charade | charbon | charbonnier | charcuterie | chard | chargé d'affaires | chargés d'affaires | charivari | Charleroi | Charlotte | charlotte | charlotte russe | charmeuse | Charpentier | charrette | charterhouse | chartreuse | Chartreux | chasse | chassé | chasse-café | chasse-marée | chasseur | chassis | château | chateaubriand | chatelain | chatelaine | chaton | chatoyment | chaud-froid | chauffeur | chauffeuse | chausse | chaussé | chaussure | chaussée | chauvinism | chef | chef de mission | chef de partie | chef de rang | chef d'oeuvre | chef d'œuvre | chef-d'œuvre | chelem | chemin de fer | chemin de ronde | chemisette | chemist | chenier | chenille | chétif | cheval | cheval de frise | chevauchee | chevauchée | chevelure | cheville | C | chèvre | chevrette | chevreuil | Chevrolet | chevron | chevrotain | Cheyenne | chez | chiaoux | chibouk | chic | Chicago | chicane | chichi | chicon | chicotte | chiffon | chiffonade | chiffonier | chiffre | chignon | Childeric | chiné | chinois | chinoiserie | Chinoiserie | chipolata | chirurgien | Chleuh | chloroform | chlorophyll | chocolatier | chocolatine | cholesterine | chomage | chômeur | choreography | chose jugée | choses jugées | chott | chou | chowder | Christine | chrome | chronique scandaleuse | chuchotage | chute | chyle | ci-devant | ciboule | cigarette | cimier | cineast | cinema | cinéma vérité | cinephile | cinetization | cinquain | ciné film | ciné films | cinéfilm | cinéfilms | cirque | Citroën | citron | citronella | civilisation | civilité | civilization | civilize | | clair de lune | Claire | clairvoyance | clapper | claqueur | clarain | classic | classification | clavier | cleché | clementine | Clermont | cliché | clichés | clientele | clientèle | clique | cliquet | clochard | cloche | cloison | cloisonné | cloque | close | cloture | clou | Clouseau | CLSC | cléché | clôture | cochineal | coco-de-mer | cognac | Cognac | cohesion | coiffeur | coiffeuse | coiffure | coincident | col | colic | colin | collaborator | collage | collogue | Cologne | colonnade | colonnette | colporteur | combat | combattant | Comeaux | comedienne | comme ci comme ça | comme il faut | commencement | commercial | commissaire | commissariat | commode | communal | communiqué | communiqués | Comoros | compensable | compensatory | compense | compere | compère | compersion | competence | competition | complex | compliment | componé | compote | compôte | compte rendu | compulsive | compute | comtal | comte | concassé | concert | concessionaire | conche | concierge | concision | conclave | concord | concourse | concretion | concubinage | conferencier | confidant | confinement | confit | confiture | confronté | congé | Congolese | consanguine | conservatoire | conservatory | consigne | console | consommé | constatation | constate | consternation | contour | contourné | contrecoup | contredanse | contretemps | conventionnel | convive | convivial | copist | coprolalia | coquelicot | coqueluche | coquet | coquette | coquille | cor anglais | corbeau | corbeille | Corcoran | C | cordage | cordon bleu | cordon sanitaire | cordonnet | cornemuse | cornichon | corps de garde | corps-a-corps | correct | corrective | corridor | corruption | corsage | corsair | Corse-du-Sud | cortege | corticine | corvee | corvette | corvées | coryphée | coryphées | cosmopolite | Costa | costume | costumier | cotarnine | Cote | Côte d'Ivoire | coteau | coterie | cotillion | cottage orné | coua | couchette | couché | cougar | coulé | coulee | couleur | coulis | coulisse | couloir | coulomb | coulure | countermure | coup | coup d'états | coup d'arret | coup de force | coup de foudre | coup de grâce | coup de main | coup de maitre | coup de théâtre | coup d'état | coup d'œil | coupe | coupé | coupe-gorge | coupon | coups d'état | coups de théâtre | coupés | courante | courbette | coureur de bois | courgette | course landaise | courtesan | couscous | Couserans | couteau de chasse | couter | coutil | Couture | couturier | couvert | couverture | couveuse | CQ | cracovienne | cramoisie | crampon | crapaud | crapaudine | crappo | craquelure | crayon | crèche | credibility | crémaillère | crème | crème anglaise | crème brûlée | crème caramel | crème de cassis | crème de la crème | crème de menthe | crème fraîche | crepe | crêpe | crêpe de Chine | crêpe Suzette | creperie | crépinette | crepon | cretin | creton | crevette | cri du chat | crime passionnel | crin | crinoline | critique | Cro-Magnon | crochet | croisade | croisé | croissant | croque-madame | croquembouche | croquette | croquis | crosne | cross pattée | crossette | Croteau | crottin | croupier | croupiere | croustade | croûton | Crow | cru | crucial | crudites | crudités | cubage | cubeb | cubism | cubitiere | cucurbit | cue | cueillette | cuir-bouilli | cuirasse | cuirassement | cuirassier | cuish | cuisine | cuisinier | cul-de-four | cul-de-lampe | cul-de-sac | culinary | culminant | culmination | culotte | culottes | cultivation | cummer | cuneiform | cupel | curettage | curette | curie | Curie | currant | cuvée | cuvette | cuvier | cyme | cynosure | cédille | cégep | cépages |
• D | dadaism | Daigneault | Daillencourt | dalles | damassé | d'Amour | dancetté | dandelion | Danielle | Danna | danse macabre | danseuse | dartre | daube | dauphin | Dauphin | dauphine | daurade | de Brienne | de Grasse | de Havilland | de luxe | de rigueur | D | de son tort | déblai | débouché | debride | debridement | debris | débris | debuscope | debut | début | débutant | debutante | débutante | decalcomanie | decameter | decametre | decant | decantation | decapod | decime | decistere | déclassé | décollement | décolletage | décolleté | décolletée | decolorant | décor | decoupage | dedans | deess | defeatism | defeatist | defense | defiant | deforestation | defrock | dégagé | degenerescence | deglutition | degringolade | degustation | dehors | deism | déjà vu | delaine | delvauxite | demagogic | démarche | demi-sec | demibastion | demibrigade | demicadence | demiglace | demigorge | demijohn | demilune | demimondaine | demimonde | demirelief | demitasse | demitint | démodé | demoiselle | denature | dénouement | dentelle | dentist | département | department | departmental | dependant | depliage | deplorable | deploy | deport | deportment | depot | depreciation | depucelage | derailleur | derailment | derangement | dermabrase | dernier | dernier cri | derriere | derrière | Descemet | desert | deshabille | desinence | desman | despotism | dessert | dessin d'enfant | destin | detachment | detent | détente | detergent | determinant | detonation | detour | detournement | détraqué | detrempe | Detroit | develop | developpe | deviance | deviant | Deville | devoir | dextrochere | dey | diabase | diablerie | diablo | diabologue | diamantaire | diamante | diamanté | diaphanie | diatribe | dictature | Dien Bien | Dien Bien Phu | différance | digestif | dinanderie | diorama | diphtheria | diplomacy | directeur sportif | directive | dirigisme | dirigiste | disc | discaire | discotheque | disinfectant | disinter | dispone | disponible | dispose | dispositif | disquisition | dissociation | distingué | distrait | district | disyllabic | divan | divorcé | divorcee | divorcée | divorcées | divorcés | dizain | djellaba | djembe | djembé | doctrinaire | documentary | dolmen | doloire | dolomite | domaine | Domdaniel | domestique | Dominguois | domino | dompt | donnée | Dordogne | dortoir | dosseret | dossier | dot | douane | doublé | doublure | Doubs | douceur | douche | doux | douzaine | douzenier | doyen | doyenne | drachm | drachme | drageoir | dragonnade | dragoon | dragée | draisienne | dramaturge | dramaturgy | D | drap | drap d'été | drap de Berry | dressage | droguet | drollery | Drôme | dronte | drophead coupé | druid | du jour | Dubonnet | dubonnet | Dufour | Dumoulin | dune | Dunkerque | Dupont | duramenisation | durant | duvet | dysphemism | débridements | débutantes | débuts | débâcle | décime | déclassée | décolletages | déculassement | déjeuné | dép | dépanneur | départements | dépôts |
• E | eau Créole | eau de Cologne | eau de nil | eau de toilette | eau de vie | eau forte | éboulement | écarté | ecarteur | échappé | echelle | echelon | eclair | éclair | eclaircise | éclat | écorché | écossaise | écrasement | ecraseur | ecrasite | écru | écu | écuelle | Edinbourgeois | effacement | effervescence | effigy | effleurage | efflorescence | efflower | élan | élan vital | elegante | élite | -elle | ellipse | eloge | Eloise | Élysée | emancipation | emballage | embarcadère | embarrass | emblematic | emboîtement | embonpoint | embouchement | embouchure | embourgeoise | embourgeoisement | embroil | embusqué | emergence | emery | émeute | emigre | emigré | émigré | éminence grise | emissary | emollient | empennage | employée | employé | employés | emulsion | en banc | en bloc | en brosse | en cabochon | en coup de sabre | en famille | en femme | en flute | en garde | en homme | en masse | en passant | en pied | en plein | en plein air | en pointe | en rapport | en route | en ventre sa mere | en-papillote | énarque | enceinte | enclave | encoignure | encolure | encore | enculade | endimanched | endocrine | endocrinology | endoctrine | endorphin | enfant de coeur | enfant terrible | enfantement | enfilade | enfleurage | engagé | engobe | engouement | engoulée | enguiché | enjamb | enjambment | enlevement | enmanché | ennui | ennuyé | ennuyée | ennuyées | ensemble | ensile | ensuite | entente | entente cordiale | entier | entourage | entr'acte | entrant | entrechat | entrecôte | entrée | entrelac | Entrelacs | entremets | entrepas | entrepôt | entrepreneur | entresol | entryism | envelope | environs | envoi | épater la bourgeoisie | épater le bourgeois | epaulet | epaulette | épaulière | epee | épée | épicier | epidote | epinglette | epistemé | epistolary | epluchage | épopée | equipment | erg | ergot | erudit | escadrille | escalade | escalope | escamoterie | escapade | escargatoire | escargot | E | escarmouche | escarole | escarp | escarpment | Escaut | escroc | espadon | espadrille | espagnole | espagnolette | espalier | esparcet | espionage | esplanade | esprit | esprit de corps | esprit fort | -esque | esquisse | essencier | estafette | estaminet | estampage | estampie | estouffade | estrade | estragon | estrapade | etagere | etalon | etamine | étape | état major | étatisme | etendue | ethnie | ethography | etiquette | étoile | etouffee | étrier | etude | etui | étui | eucalyptus | eukaryote | Eure | Eure-et-Loir | European | evanescent | evangile | evenemential | evince | évolué | exactitude | exergue | exigeante | exigence | exoreic | expansion | expatriation | expertise | exploitation | exposé | exposés | extermine | externat | externe | extincteur | extraordinaire | extravagance | extrinsic |
• F | fabric | facade | facet | facetious | facette | facture | fadaise | fainéant | fainéants | fait accompli | faites vos jeux | falbala | faluche | fanal | fanfare | fanfaronade | fantastique | farceur | fardage | farouche | fasciation | fascine | faubourg | faussebraye | faute de mieux | fauvette | fauvism | fauvist | faux | faux ami | faux pas | favori | façade pattern | façade patterns | façades | façon de parler | façonné | façons de parler | federation | feint | feminism | femme fatale | femme incomprise | fenestron | fer-de-lance | ferriprive | fertile | Fervidor | festoon | fete | fête | fetish | feu de joie | feu-de-joie | feuilleté | feuilletine | feuilleton | feuilletonist | fiacre | fiancé | fiancée | fiancées | fiancés | fiche | fichu | fiché | figurine | filasse | filet mignon | Filles du Roi | film blanc | film noir | filtration | filé | fin de siècle | financier | fisc | fish | fitché | fixed head coupé | fixed head coupés | flacon | flageolet | flambé | flambeau | flamboyant | flamboyer | flambéed | flambés | flan | flânerie | flasque | flatulence | flèche | fletch | fleur-de-lis | flibustier | floc | floral | Floréal | Florence | florentine | floss | fluidity | flutist | foie gras | Foix | folie à familie | folie du doute | folie à deux | fondu | fondue | fonio | Fontaine | fontanelle | Fontenay-aux-Roses | Fontenot | force majeure | forcené | forme fruste | formule | fortin | foudroyant | fouetté | fougasse | foulage | foulard | foulé | F | fourbe | fourbery | fourche | fourché | fourgon | Fourier | fourneau | Fourrage | fourrier | foyer | fracas | fragrance | fraise | framboise | franc | francais | Francien | Franco-Provençal | François | frangipane | Franglais | Fransaskois | frappe | frappé | Fremantle | fricassee | fricot | frigate | Frimaire | frisket | frisson | frisure | frisée | frivol | froideur | frondeur | frotteur | frou-frou | Fructidor | fuchsine | fugue | fulminant | fulmine | fumoir | fund | furniment | furtive | fusain | fuselage | fusillade | fustet | féerie | féeries | félibre |
• G | gabel | gabelle | Gaetan | gaffe | Gagne | Gagnon | gaieté de cœur | gaiter | Galant | galette | Galilee | galimatias | galipot | gall | gallantry | Gallicism | gallinule | galop | galuchat | galvanize | gambade | gamin | gamine | gaminerie | ganache | gangue | ganté | Gap | garage | garbure | Gard | garderobe | Garonne | garrot | garçon | garçonnière | garçonnières | gaspereau | gastrique | gastronome | gateau | Gatineau | gauche | gaucherie | gaufrette | Gaul | gauze | gavage | gazelle | gazette | gazon | gean | gelatin | -gen | gendarme | gendarmerie | genealogical | Genevieve | -genic | genie | genocidaire | genre | genteel | gentile | Gentile | geode | Germinal | Gers | geste antagoniste | ghassoul | Ghislaine | gibbon | giclée | Gigi | gigolo | gigot | gigue | gilet | Gingras | Girardeau | Girardot | Giroir | girolle | girouettism | Giselle | gîte | glacé | glacier | glacis | glissade | globular | globule | glumelle | gluten | glutin | glycogen | gnomic | gnomon | gobe-mouche | gobemouche | Godard | goddam | goeland | goffer | goitre | gorgerin | gouache | goudron | goujon | Goulart | gour | gourde | gourmandise | gourmet | gousset | gout | gouvernante | gradation | grade | grammaticalization | grand cru | Grand Est | grand mal | Grand Prix | Grand Teton | grandam | Grande Comore | grande finale | granite | -graphy | graphy | Grasse | gratify | gratin | gratitude | grattage | greige | grenache | grenade | grenadine | Grenier | griffe | grill | grille | grimace | grimoire | G | griot | grippe | grisaille | grisette | grocery | grognard | grogram | grosgrain | group | groupuscule | grouse | gruyere | Guadeloupe | guenon | guepard | gueridon | guerite | guidon | guilloché | guillotine | guimpe | guinguette | guipure | gumbo | GUNT | gutter rabbit | gypse | gyroscope |
• H | habitué | Habs | hachereau | hadal | Haïti | Hamlet | hanap | hangar | Harki | harmonium | haut | haut gout | hautbois | haute couture | haute cuisine | Haute-Corse | Hautes-Alpes | hauteur | haversack | Havre | Hebert | hectare | helicopter | hemistich | Henriette | herbes de Provence | heresiarch | hersage | hippodrome | historiette | hollandaise | Holocene | homme de lettres | homolog | homologue | horizontal | hors categorie | hors catégorie | hors de combat | hors d'oeuvre | hospice | hotel | hôtel | hôtel-Dieu | hotelier | houbara bustard | Houle | houri | huissier | huissier de justice | hussar | hydrate | hydraulic | hygienic | hymen |
• I | iamb | iambic | iconoclast | ide | idée | idée fixe | ideologue | ideology | idiot savant | idée reçue | -ienne | ignominy | illegal | -illiard | illicit | Illinois | immanence | immortelle | impasse | impastation | impermeability | impermeable | impersonal | impromptu | improvisation | in- | inaction | inaptitude | incandescence | inceptive | incunable | individualism | industrialize | inexperience | infrastructure | ingenu | ingenue | ingénue | inox | INRIA | insectivore | insipid | insolation | insouciant | instant | integrable | intercalant | interlocutrice | intertextuality | interventionist | interversion | intonation | intransigent | intrepid | intrication | intrigante | intrigue | intussusception | Iowa | Irene | Iroquois | irreproachable | irresolute | irritable | Isère | isolation | -ity |
• J | jabot | jackal | jade | j'adoube | jalousie | jamais vu | japonaiserie | jardin | jardinière | jargoon | jaspé | je ne sais quoi | jeremiad | jet | jete | jeton | jeu de paume | jeu d'esprit | jeunesse dorée | joie de vivre | jongleur | Jonquière | jonquil | jougs | jour fixe | journalism | jovial | jube | Judeo-Provençal | jujube | jument | Jurassic | jurto | juxtapose | juxtaposition |
• K | kamagraphy | Kanak | kepi | khedive | kickshaw | kilogram | kilometrage | kilometre | kinkajou | kiosk | kir | kirsch | konzo |
• L | la nouvelle manga | La Rochelle | L | La Tache | Labbe | Labelle | Labonte | Lacaille | lacert | Lacombe | lacquer | Lacroix | lactose | Lafleur | Lafontaine | lagoon | lagune | laicity | laisse | laissez faire | laissez-faire | laissez-passer | lambdoid | lambel | lambrequin | lamé | lamellicorn | lames | Lamotte | Lamour | Lamoureux | lampas | langouste | langoustine | langue | langue d'oïl | Languedoc | lansquenet | lanterloo | lanterne rouge | Laos | lapin | Lapointe | Laporte | lassitude | latitude | lative | Laurier | Lausanne | lavage | Laval | Lavallee | Lavallée | Lavoie | lazaret | le | Le Havre | Le Mans | Le Tache | Lebeau | Leblanc | lecithin | Lefebvre | Legault | leger | legerity | legionnaire | Legrand | legume | Lemans | Lengrand | Leonie | Leroux | les jeux sont faits | lèse majesté | lese majesty | l'esprit de l'escalier | Lettrism | Levant | lever | Levesque | liaison | libelle | liberticide | libre | Libreville | Liège | lieu | lieu jaune | lieu-dit | Ligue 1 | lilac | Lille | limaçon | limitrophe | Limoges | Limousin | limousin | limousine | lineic | lingerie | linget | lipase | lipid | liqueur | lisse | lissoir | lithofracteur | litre | litterateur | litteratrice | livre | llusern | lobe | locket | logistic | logistics | -logue | Loir | longeron | longue durée | Longueil | Longueuil | Longueuillois | lorette | lorgnette | lorgnon | Lorraine | lotte | louche | Louis | louis | louis d'or | Louis-Quatorze | Louis-Quinze | Louis-Seize | Louisbourg | loup-cervier | loup-garou | loupe | Louvain | Louvre | lucarne | lucerne | lucrative | luge | luminaire | lunette | lunule | lurch | lutherie | luthier | luxe | lycée | Lyon | Lyons |
• M | macabre | macaque | macaron | macaronage | macaroon | macedoine | macédoine | mâche | machination | macle | macramé | madame | madeleine | Madeleine | mademoiselle | magneton | Magnon | magret | Mahé | Mahorais | maigre | maillot | Maine | Maison | maisonette | Maisonneuve | maîtresse en titre | major | majorant | majorat | majoration | majuscule | maki | mal | mal du siècle | malaise | malinger | mamelon | Manche | manche | -mane | manège | manganese | mange-tout | mangetout | maniac | manicure | M | maniguette | manipulation | mannequin | manoir | manometer | manqué | mansard | maquette | maquillage | maquis | maquisard | marabou | maraud | Marc | Marceau | Marcel | Mardi Gras | Marechal | maréchaussée | margarine | Margaux | Margot | Marguerite | marguerite | mari complaisant | Marie | marigot | marinade | marionette | marmite | marocain | Marocain | maroon | marque | marquis | marquise | Marrakech | marron glacé | Marseillais | Marseillaise | Marseilles | martinet | marxisant | mas | mascot | masque | massé | masseur | masseuse | massicot | massif | matelote | materialism | materiel | matinal | matinée | matricide | matte | mature | mauvais quart d'heure | mauvaise langue | mauve | mauvette | mayonnaise | Mayotte | mazagran | medallion | medicamentous | mediology | Melanesia | melee | mêlée | melodic | melodrame | ménage | ménage à trois | Menard | mendiant | menhir | mentalité | menu | mercantile | merde | meringue | meringue glacé | Merle | merlon | Merveilleuse | merveilleux | mésalliance | Messidor | metallurgy | metamorphose | meter | méthode champenoise | methodology | métier | Metis | metis | metre | -metric | metro | Metz | Meunier | Meuse | mezzanine | microfiche | Midi | midinette | migniardise | mignon | Milan | milieu | mille-feuille | milliardaire | millime | millionaire | minaret | minauderie | minaudière | mine | minim | mirabelle plum | mirage | mirepoix | miscellany | miscible | mise | mise en abyme | mise en place | mise en scène | mise-en-page | misère | Mississauga | Missouri | mistral | mitraillade | mitrailleuse | mixte | modernization | modification | modist | module | moellon | moeurs | Mohéli | moire | moiré | molecule | monarchism | monitrice | monocle | monokini | monolith | monorail | monoxyle | monsieur | Monsieur de Paris | monstre sacré | mont | Mont Blanc | montage | Montagnais | Montferrat | Montreal | monture | Mopti | moquette | moraine | morale | morceau | morel | morela | morelle | morganatic | morgue | morion | Morneau | Moroni | morphine | morsure | mort | mortier | Moselle | mot juste | motard | mother sauces | motif | mouchard | mouche | mouchoir | moue | mouflon | mouillé | moulage | moulin | moulinage | moulinette | mousquetaire | mousse | M | mousseline de laine | mousseux | moustache | mouton | mouton enragé | mouvementé | muid | mulard | muleteer | municipal | municipality | munition | mural | musard | muscadin | muscat | musculature | museau | musique concrète | muskellunge | musrole | myria- | myriare | mystique | mythomane | mythomaniac | ménage à quatre |
• N | nacelle | Nadeau | naïf | naissant | naive | naïveté | Nanterre | Nantes | nap | Naples | Napoleon | napoleon | Narbonne | narghile | nasal | nationalism | nationalize | natron | nattes | nature morte | naturism | navarin | Navarre | nécessaire | Necker | nee | née | nef | négligée | negociant | nepotism | neroli | nervure | n'est-ce pas | neuroleptic | neutralization | névé | Nice | niche | Niçois | nicotine | nielle | niellure | nigger | nihilism | Nissard | nitrogen | Nivôse | Niçoise salad | noblesse oblige | nocturne | noeud vital | noir | nom de guerre | nombril | nonchalant | norman | nostalgie de la boue | note verbale | Notre Dame | nougatine | nouveau | nouveau riche | nouveau roman | nouvelle cuisine | nouvelle vague | noyau | nuance | nubile | nuée ardente | nuit blanche | Nyon |
• O | objective | objet d'art | observant | observation | observatory | Occitanie | odalisque | œil-de-bœuf | œil-de-perdrix | oeillade | oeuf | oeuvre | ogre | oignon vert | oillet | okoume | ombre | on dit | ondes martenot | onglet | onguent | opal | optician | opuscule | Orange | orchestration | ordinaire | ordonnance | orgueil | orgy | orientation | orpailleur | orpheline | orthopedic | orvet | osier | ostensible | ostensibly | ostensoir | -otic | Ouarzazate | oubliette | ouguiya | Outaouais | outremer | Outremont | ouvert | ouvrier | ouvrière | oxalic | |
• P | pachyderm | pachytene | pacifist | pagne | paillard | paillasson | paillette | pain | pain au chocolat | pain aux raisins | pain de mie | palatial | palatine | Paleocene | paletot | palette | pampelmoes | panache | panda | panne | pannier | pantaloon | pantaloons | pantoum | papa | papier-mâché | papillon | papillote | paquebot | par | par excellence | parachute | parade | parados | paralysant | paravent | pareil | parelle | parfait | parfilage | parfum | Parisienne | Parizeau | parmesan | paroxysm | parquet | parquetage | parterre | partisan | parvenu | P | parvenue | pas | pas de chat | pas de deux | pascal | pasquinade | passé | passe-partout | passéist | passepied | passerelle | pastel | pasteurise | pasteurize | pastiche | pastillage | pastille | pastis | pataphysician | pataphysics | patchouli | pate | pâté | pâte brisée | pâté chinois | pate feuilletee | pathology | patina | patisserie | patissier | patois | Patriote | patrol | patte | patty | Pauline | paupiette | pavane | Payette | paysage | peau d'orange | pecan | pedal | pederast | peignoir | Peking | pelisse | peloton | pelure | penchant | pendentive | Penelopegate | pensée | perception | percuteur | perdu | père | performant | peridot | Périgord | peristyle | Perpignan | persiflage | persillade | personnel | pertinence | pertinent | pétillant naturel | petiole | petit final | petit four | petit mal | petite | petite bourgeoisie | petroglyph | petroleur | petun | Peugeot | Peyrehorade | phaeton | phantasmagoria | phantasmagory | phare | phenol | Philippines | philosophe | pholerite | phosphure | photography | pianiste | piastre | Picardy | picayune | picnic | picot | Picquet | pièce de résistance | pièce d'occasion | pied-à-terre | piedouche | pierre perdu | pierrotage | pika | piloti | piment | Pinard | pince-nez | Pinçonnière | pineau | pinion | pinot | piolet | pique | piqué | Piquet | piquette | pirogue | pis aller | pis-en-deux | piscine | pissaladière | piste | pistil | pistole | piston | piton | pivot | plafond | plaidoyer | plainchant | plan | planche | planchette | plant-animal | plantigrade | plaque | plaquette | plat du jour | plateau | platitude | plaçage | plié | plique-à-jour | plisse | plissé | plongée | plumassier | plurisecular | plus ça change | pluvial | Pluviôse | pochade | poché | pochette | pochoir | pococurante | poilu | point d'appui | point-device | pointe | pointillé | pointillism | Poirier | Poitiers | poitrine | poivrade | polatouche | polissoir | politesse | polonaise | Polypheme | pomme | pomme frite | pomme puree | pomme purée | pommecythere | pommes frites | pompier | ponceau | poniard | pontil | poontang | poplin | populosity | porte cochère | porte-monnaie | portmanteau | portraiture | posé | poseur | post | poste restante | postulant | pot-au-feu | potage | potiche | potin | pouding chômeur | poudrette | Poulain | P | poule | poulpe | pounce | pourboire | pourparler | pourpoint | pousse-café | poussin | powder-douce | Prairial | prairie | praline | pratique | précis | precoce | predilection | prehensile | preliminary | prender | prepose | presidentiable | presque vu | prestidigitation | prestidigitator | prestige | prêt-à-porter | prevoyant | primate | prime | printanier | prix fixe | procedure | procureur | profiterole | proletaire | promenade | prononcé | propension | prosateur | prose | prospectus | protectionism | protégé | protégée | protein | Protestant | provenance | Provence | Provençal | provocateur | Prudhomme | psychology | pterion | ptilocerque | publicist | pudeur | pule | pulsion | pulverise | punt | pupe | pur et dur | pur sang | pure laine | puree | purist | putois | putty | puy | pyrogravure | pyroxene |
• Q | quadrat | quadratic | quadrilliard | quadruped | quarte | quarter | quartet | quartier | quatorze | quatrain | quatre | Quebec | Quebecism | quelle surprise | quenelle | quenouille | questionnaire | qui vive | quiche | quinzaine | quinze |
• R | rabat | rabot | racahout | racism | raclette | racloir | raconteur | raconteuse | radeau | radioactive | radium | radoub | rafale | ragout | raï | raillery | railleur | raison d'etre | raison d'être | ramier | ramollissement | ramp | Rancourt | rapid | rappel | rapport | rapportage | rapporteur | rapprochement | rasant | rastaquouère | ratafia | ratatouille | ratiocination | ravier | ravine | razzia | reactionary | realize | reblochon | recalcitrant | recamier | réchauffé | recherché | recit | recollection | reconnaissance | recoup | recoupé | redingote | redoubtable | refoulment | regime | régime | reglementary | reglet | reinette | rejection | relais | religieuse | religieux | reliquaire | remarque | remblai | remis | remontant | remontoir | remoulade | rempli | remplissage | renaissance | Renaissance | Renaud | Renault | rendezvous | rendition | Rene | Rennes | rentier | repartee | repertible | repertoire | répertoire | repique | reportage | repoussé | repoussoir | repêchage | requin | réseau | resonant | ressaut | restaurant | restaurateur | restaurateuse | restavec | resume | retable | reticule | retro | revanche | revanchisme | revere | reverie | revers | revet | revision | revolt | R | revue | Rhodes | Rhône | ricochet | rideau | ridicule | rien ne va plus | rimaye | Rimbaud | risque | risqué | rissole | riverain | rivière | rob | robe de chambre | robe decollete | robe montante | Robichaux | robinet | rocaille | rocambole | rocambolesque | rocket | rococo | rogatory | roitelet | role | romaine | roman à clef | roman à thèse | Romandy | rompu | rondelle | rondure | rongeur | roquette | rosbif | rosé | Rosemont | rosette | rotonde | roturier | roucou | roué | rouelle | Rouen | rouerie | rouge | Rougeau | rouget | rouille | roulade | roulette | rouleur | routine | roux | RSVP | ruche | rudenture | ruelle | ruse de guerre |
• S | S.I. | sabayon | sabot | sabotage | saboteur | sabrage | sabre | sabretache | sabretasche | sac | sachet | sagacity | sagesse | Sagueneen | Sagueneenne | saic | saignée | sainfoin | Saint Apollinaire | Saint Louis | Saint Onge | Saint-Dominguois | Saint-Girons | Saint-Julien | Saint-Louis | Saint-Pierre-des-Corps | Saintes | Saintonge | saison | saker | salep | salle | sally | salon | Salon des Refusés | saltimbanque | salut des armes | Samothracian | san fairy ann | Sancerre | sang froid | sangfroid | sanglier | sanitary | sans gêne | sans nombre | sans serif | sans-culottide | santon | Saône | sapeur | saponule | sappare | sarabande | sarbacane | sardine | sarigue | satin de laine | satiné | satyr | saucier | saucisson | Saurier | sauté | sauter | sautoire | sauvignon | savant | savate | Savoie | savoir-faire | savoir-vivre | Savoyard | saxophone | Scaramouche | scatch | scelerat | scène à faire | sciage | season | secret of Polichinelle | secretariat | Ségou | seigneuresse | seigneurie | selenium | sell | semantic | semaphore | semblant | semé | senteur | sentiment du fer | Seoul | septillion | sequence | sequin | Seraphine | serein | serenade | serge | sericulture | serimeter | serin | serpolet | service à la française | service à la russe | serviette | sesban | seton | Sèvres | Seychellois | shagreen | shako | shallop | shallot | shingle | shivaree | siffle | sifflet | silhouette | sillometer | sillon | simple | singerie | singulative | sirvente | sobriquet | socca | socialism | sofa | soi-disant | soigné | soignée | soigneur | soiree | soirée | soixante-huitard | S | soixante-neuf | solenoid | solfège | solidification | solitaire | solive | sombre | sommelier | somnambulist | somnolent | son et lumière | sondage | sonde | sorbet | Sorbon | Sorbonne | sortie | sou | soubresaut | soubrette | soufflé | soul | soupçon | soupçons | sourdeline | sous-chef | sous-vide | soutache | soutane | souterrain | souvenir | spadassin | spadille | spahi | sparadrap | specialist | sphene | spirituelle | squad | squill | stagiaire | stagnant | stasiology | statuesque | statuette | steak Diane | stere | stereotype | stethoscope | strass | succès de scandale | succès fou | succulent | suint | suite | supermotard | suppliant | suprême | Sûreté | suricate | surmoulage | surmulot | surveillance | svelte | syllabe | sylphid | symphoniette | syndic | syndical | Syrah | syrah | syringe |
• T | table d'hôte | tableau | tableau vivant | tablier | tacahout | Tâche | Tadjoura | Tadjourah | taille | talapoin | talisman | talus | tamanoir | tambour | tambourine | tamis | tammy | tampon | tan | tant mieux | tant pis | tantième | tapenade | tapir | tardy | tarot | tarse | tartan | tarte au citron | tarte flambée | | tassie | tatonnement | taupe | taximeter | taxonomy | technique | teinture | teleocracy | telephone | television | Telex | templet | tenace | teosinte | tercine | teredine | termite | terrace | terrain | terre-plein | terreplein | Terrien | terrine | terroir | tête-à-tête | tête-bêche | Tetreault | Tetreaultville | TGV | The Hague | theine | theodicy | Therien | Thermidor | thermometer | Therrien | Thibodeaux | thieboudienne | thymol | tic | tierce de Picardie | tige | tignon | tilleul | timbre | tinamou | tiqueur | tirade | tirailleur | titre | titubant | Tocqueville | toile | toilette | toise | toison | tole | tombé | tombo | Tomme | ton | Tonkin | tonne | tonneau | toot suite | toot sweet | tope | torchon | torrent | torsade | torsion | touché | Toulouse | toupee | tour de force | Tour de France | tour d'horizon | Tourane | tourbillon | tourelle | tourmaline | tournedos | tout court | tout de suite | tout ensemble | tout le monde | toxic | traceur | traceuse | tragedienne | trahison | trahison des clercs | traipse | traiteur | tranche | transfuge | transhuman | T | transhumance | transmanche | traumatize | travers | tréflé | treillage | trema | Trepanier | Trépanier | trephine | très chic | Treves | triage | Trianon | tricot | tricotée | tricoteuse | tricycle | trilliard | trillion | tringle | triolet | triple sec | triskele | triskeles | tristesse | trochee | Trois-Rivières | trompe l'oeil | trompe l'œil | tronc | troposphere | -tropy | troupe | trousseau | trouvère | Troyes | Trudeau | truffière | truffle | trumeau | trumpery | tuff | tuile | tulle | tumescence | turbine | tureen | Turkey | Turlupin | tuteur | tutoyer | | tuyere | tyrolienne | tzigane | tête-de-pont | têtes-de-pont |
• U | ubac | uhlan | ultime | unique | uric | usure | utricle |
• V | vacherin | vachette | vagabondage | Vaillancourt | Valerie | valet-de-chambre | valet-de-place | valise | valse | vancourier | vandalism | Vannes | vansire | vareuse | | vaudeville | Vaudois | vaunt | vaurien | vedette | vehicle | velocipede | velour | velouté | venal | vend | vendange | Vendée | Vendémiaire | veneur | vennel | vent | Ventôse | ventouse | Venus de Milo | verbiage | verjus | verlan | vermouth | Verne | vernier | vernissage | verrillon | verrine | Versailles | versant | verve | vervelle | vestige | vetiver | Vichy | vichyssoise | Vienna | viennoiserie | Vientiane | vieux jeu | vieux riche | vigneron | Vigneron | vignette | villanelle | -ville | Villeneuve | vinage | vinaigrette | vinasse | Vincennes | virement | virion | vis-à-vis | visagiste | visite | vison | vitrail | vitrine | vivandier | vivandière | vive la différence | viveur | vocable | vocabulary | voilà | voile | voiture | voiturette | vol-au-vent | vole | volet | volte-face | voltigeur | voluptuary | Vosges | voussoir | voyeur | vraisemblance |
• W | Walloon | Watremez | wattman | with the manner |
• X | xanthein | xylography | xylotheque |
• Y | Yannick | yé-yé | yogourt | yurt |
• Z | zain | Zecco | zemidjan | zero | zest | zigzag |
• À | à propos |
• É | échappés | échelon | éclaircissement | éclairs | écorchés | écrasements | écraseur | écus | égalitarian | égalitarianism | élitist | élitists | éloge | éminence grises | énarques | épaulières | épopées | épéeist | épéeists | épées | étage | étendue |
• É | étincellé | étoiles | étouffées | étude | études | étuis |