What is the word for called in french

The most common French words are: Oui (yes), non (no), merci (thank you), je (I), tu/vous (you), le/la/les (the), un, une des (a, an and some), le/la/les (it, them), et (and) and mais (but).

What are the most frequently used French words?

Learning the most common words is the first step to learning to speak fluently. Rather than just providing a list of top-100 words without any structure, we’ve created a list based on language sub-areas such as common adjectives, prepositions and verbs. We’ve also broken our list down into noun groups such family, clothing and much more.

Top 10 French words in a nutshell

These are the top ten frequently most used words in the French language:

1. Oui yes
2. Non no
3. Merci thank you
4. Je I
5. Tu/vous you
6. le, la, les the
7. Un, une, des a, an, some
8. le, la, les it, them
9. Et and
10. Mais but

Example sentences with the most common words:

• Oui, je parle français. Yes, I speak French.
• Non, je ne parle pas français. No, I don’t speak French.
• Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much.
• Je mange le pain. I eat the bread.
• Tu manges la salade. You seat the salad.
• Vous mangez la pizza. You eat the pizza.
• Le garçon chante. The boy sings.
• La fille nage. The girl swims.
• Les enfants chantent. The children sing.
• Un garçon écrit. A boy writes.
• Une fille dort. A girl sleeps.
• Des enfant étudient. Some kids study.
• Je le/la mange. I eat it.
• Je les mange. I eat them.
• Marc et Sylvie. Marc and Sylvie.
• Il aime Sylvie mais il est trop timide. He likes Sylvie but he’s too shy.

How to say “not in French

In French, to say “not”, wrap ne…pas around a verb. For example, “Je ne parle pas français” (I don’t speak French).

This is called negation. This page covers French negation in detail.

• Ne…pas not

Articles: words for “the” and “a, an”

The articles in French (words for the and a/an) must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

The words for the are called the definite article and the words for a/some are called the indefinite article. This page explains these French articles in detail.

• Le the (masculine)
• La the (feminine)
• Les the (plural)
• L’ the (comes before noun starting with a vowel)
• Un a or an (masculine)
• Une a or an (feminine)
• Des some (plural)

Personal pronouns

One of the first steps in learning French is to learn the personal pronouns. These refer to words for people (I, you, he, she, etc.).

This page covers French personal pronouns in detail.

• Je I
• Tu you
• Il he
• Elle she
• On one
• Nous we
• Vous you (formal)
• Ils they (all men or mixed company)
• Elles they (female only)

Stressed pronouns

A second kind of pronoun that’s use for people is is called a “stressed pronoun”. These are words like me, him and her in English.

This page covers French stressed pronouns.

• Moi me
• Toi you
• Lui him
• Elle her
• Nous us
• Vous you
• Eux them
• Elles them (female only)

Most common verbs

Verbs are action words. For example, “I go” or “I eat”. In the list below we included 10 commonly used verbs in the first-person singular (I) form.

This lesson covers the most common French verbs in detail.

• Je suis I am
• J’ai I have
• Je fais I make, I do
• Je vais I go
• Je parle I speak
• Je mange I eat
• Je sais I know
• Je veux I want
• Je dois I must
• Je peux I can

Words for politeness and greetings

It’s essential to learn words for politeness and greetings. Bonjour means hello and au revoir means good-bye.

• Bonjour Hello, good morning
• Au revoir goodbye
• Merci thank you
• De rien you’re welcome
• Salut hi and bye
• Bonsoir good evening
• Bonne nuit good night
• S’il vous plaît please (formal)
• S’il te plaît please (informal)

French numbers

Learning to count to ten is essential for any beginner. Learning these most basic numbers will help you to ask how much things cost, tell time and say the date.

This lesson covers the French numbers 1-100 in detail.

• Un one
• Deux two
• Trois three
• Quatre four
• Cinq five
• Six six
• Sept seven
• Huit eight
• Neuf nine
• Dix ten

Connecting words

Connecting words or conjunctions are words that are used to join two parts of sentence together.

• Et and
• Ou or
• Si if
• Mais but
• Quand when
• Que that
• Qui who, that
• Comme like, as
• Parceque because

French prepositions

A preposition is a word that introduces another part of a sentences. For example, “in the bathroom”, “at the movies” or “with mom”.

The two most commonly used French prepositions are à (to/at) and de (from/of). This page covers the French preposition à in detail and this page covers the French preposition de.

• À to, at
• De from, of
• Avec with
• Pour four
• Par by
• Sans without
• Contre against
• Dans in, inside of
• En in
• Sur on, on top of
• Chez at the home, place of
• Avant before
• Après after

French adverbs

An adverb is a word that’s used to describe how you do something. For example, “I run quickly” or “You speak slowly“.

• Bien well
• Mauvais poorly
• Vite quickly
• Rapidement quickly
• Lentement slowly
• Heureusement fortunately
• Seulement only
• Rarement rarely, seldom
• Souvent often
• Beaucoup a lot
• Un peu a little, a bit
• Trop too, too much

Family members

Learning the words for family members is essential for getting to know people.

This lesson covers French family vocabulary in detail.

• le père father
• la mère mother
• le frère brother
• la soeur sister
• le fils son
• la fille daughter
• le bébé baby
• l’enfant child
• le grand-père grandfather
• la grand-mère grandmother
• le cousin, la cousine cousin
• l’oncle uncle
• la tante aunt

French adjectives

Adjectives are describing words. For example, “a big house” or “an intelligent girl”.

The French rules for adjectives are very complex as the adjective must agree in number and gender with the noun (the thing) it’s describing (talking about).

The -e in parenthesis below indicates the feminine form of the adjective.

This page covers French adjectives and rules in detail.

• grand(e) big
• petit(e) little
• bon (bonne) good
• mauvais(e) bad
• beau (belle) beautiful
• joli(e) pretty
• jeune young
• vieux (vielle) old
• heureux (heureuse) happy
• triste sad

French colors

Learning the colors is very important for describing the things we see. Colors are also adjectives as they are description words.

This page covers French colors in detail.

• Rouge red
• Orange orange
• Jaune yellow
• Blanc white
• Noir black
• Bleu blue
• Vert green

Question words

Question words are words used for seeking information when asking a question. For example: Who, what, where, when and why.

• Quel (Quelle) which
• Qui who
• Quoi what
• Où where
• Quand when
• Why pourquoi

Words about time

Words about time include days of the week, months and times of day.

The following is just a sample of these words. These pages cover these words in detail: Telling time and months and days of the week,

• Aujourd’hui today
• Hier yesterday
• L’heure hour
• Le temps time
• Quelle heure what time
• Midi noon
• Minuit midnight
• Lundi Monday
• Mardi Tuesday
• Mercredi Wednesday
• Jeudi Thursday
• Vendredi Friday
• Dimanche Sunday

Food and drinks vocabulary

It’s nice to learn a few food words. This page offers a very complete list of French food vocabulary.

• le pain bread
• la viande meat
• le lait milk
• le fromage cheese
• le poulet chicken
• la salade salade
• la pomme apple
• la pomme de terre potatoe
• le riz rice
• le gâteau cake
• l’eau water
• le café coffee

Names of places

It’s important to know how to say the names of places. Here’s a list of frequently used words.

• le pays country
• l’état state
• la ville city
• le village town
• l’école school
• l’église church
• la maison house
• le bureau office
• le supermarché supermarket
• la poste post office
• la bibliothèque library

Clothing words

Here’s a brief list of some clothing words. This page covers clothing vocabulary in detail.

• la chemise shirt
• le pantelon pants
• la jupe skirt
• la robe dress
• le chemisier blouse
• le pull sweater
• les chaussures shoes
• les chaussettes socks

Conclusion

We hope we have helped to provide a comprehensive overview of the most common French words. We have summarized our top-10 list in the following table.

French	English	Pronunciation and comments
Oui	Yes	Pronounced «wee». «Mais oui!» Means of course!
Non	No	Pronounced «nɔ̃» or nasal «on». Non, je n’aime pas le fromage. No, I don’t like cheese.
Merci	Thank you	Pronounced «mer-see». Merci beaucoup means «Thank you very much».
Je	I	Pronounced «ʒə» or «juh». Je parle français! I speak French!
Tu/vous	You (informal), You (plural and formal)	Tu = ty, vous = vu or vou. This page covers pronunciation of tu.
le, la, les	The	Pronounced «luh», «lah» and «lay». When you want to say «the» all nouns require one of these words.
Un, une, des	A, an, some	Pronounced «uhn», «yn» and «day». Nouns require these articles as well.
le, la, les	It, them	Pronounced «luh», «la» and «les». These are covered in this object pronoun lesson.
Et	And	Pronounced «ay» and never «et». Et never has a liason in French.
Mais	But	Pronounced «may». Liason rule can apply to mais.

More lessons:

• French for beginners – how to get started
• French vocabulary lists
• French grammar lessons

More resources:

• Top 1000 French words

Even if you’re just starting to study French, believe it or not, you’ve already got a pretty extensive vocabulary! 

The reason for this is over 10,000 English words come from French. Many others come from Latin, the language from which French originated.

This means that a significant number of English words have either exact French counterparts or very similar equivalents in French.

That’s something to celebrate!  But, you might be wondering, just how did all of these French words get into English? How many French words are there in English? Let’s take a look at the French influence on the English language, and how it can help you with French vocabulary today!

When were French words borrowed into English?

In order to understand the way French influenced the English language, you have to know a little bit of history.

In antiquity, Celtic languages were spoken in the British Isles. Then, around 50 CE, most of the territory was invaded by the Romans. “Britannia” became a part of the Roman Empire, and Latin became the language of political and administrative life. 

In the 5^th  and 6^th centuries CE, Germanic tribes, including the Angles and the Saxons, invaded Britain, bringing their language with them.

But Latin remained a strong presence, since it was the language of the powerful and far-reaching Catholic Church (the Germanic tribes had quickly converted to Catholicism).

All religious services and texts were in Latin. This led to words commonly heard during masses and in religious parables becoming a part of everyday vocabulary. 

Some of the Latin words that began to infiltrate the language of British people at this time include “devil” (Latin: diabolus) and “angel” (Latin: angelus). 

Like its fellow Romance languages, French is a form of Vulgarized (that is, spoken by the people and influenced by previously existing local dialects) Latin. This is one of the reasons why there are so many similar words in French and Latin-influenced English. But it’s not the only reason why – not by far.

The main reason for the large number of French words in English can be chalked up to another invasion: the Norman Invasion of 1066, when William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquerant in French) staked his claim to the British throne and won it in the Battle of Hastings.

If you’re an art person, rather than a linguistics or history person, this battle may sound familiar – it’s immortalized on the Bayeux Tapestry. 

After William’s accession to the throne, the royal court was made up of Norman (from Normandy) nobility, who spoke French.

Old English and French coexisted, often quite separately, since most people in Britain never had contact with nobility.

But over time, French words began to creep into English.

These were mainly in areas like law, administration, and, unsurprisingly, food. For example, this excellent (and very funny) video about the history of English points out that while words like “pig” and “sheep” have Germanic roots, their food forms– “pork” (porc) and “mutton” (mouton) – come from French.

A few other French words that entered the English language in this era include sovereign (souverain), justice (justice), and counsel (conseil).

As the centuries went by, English continued to evolve, and and became recognized in its own right. It was used in the daily life of the upper classes and clergy, as well as the commoners. Latin did make a comeback, though. During the Renaissance, cultured people spoke it, and later, in the Age of Enlightenment, Latin was used again when classifying scientific discoveries and phenomena. 

Over the course of its tumultuous history, and English has borrowed from and been influenced by many different languages. But French and Latin have had the most influence. French and Latin words make up 58 % of modern English vocabulary today.  On their own, purely French words make up 29% of English. 

It’s generally thought that around 10,000 words have been borrowed into English from French. Of those, according to this source, there are over 1,700 “true cognates” – that is, words that not only look the same or similar, but have exactly the same meaning in both languages. 

Why is the French (and Latin) influence on English important to French learners?

Sure, etymology is fascinating, and sure, what you’ve just read might make for some fun party conversation (well, depending on what kind of parties you go to…). But is all of this really important? After all, even if you can speak English, that doesn’t mean you can speak French.  

But in fact, knowing this tie to French can help you. For one thing, you may have already experienced reading something in French and realizing that you understood more than you’d expected, because some of the words are the same in both languages.  And on an even more helpful scale, since certain lexical features like suffixes can be the same in French and English, you may be able to guess how to say certain French words.

Six suffixes that are the same in French and English

With that in mind, let’s look at six fairly common suffixes that are the same in both languages. 

Before we do that, though, remember that a suffix is an ending that gives a particular meaning when it’s tacked onto a word. For example, -ly is a suffix in English that indicates a word is an adjective or adverb (examples: lovely, quietly).

Like English, French has many suffixes. A number of these come from Latin. These include:

• -ation. Examples: nation/la nation ; information/l’information
• -tion. Examples: acceleration/l’accélération ; attention/attention
• -ssion. Examples: mission/une mission ; passion/la passion
• -able. Examples : capable/capable ; table/la table ; adorable/adorable
• -isme. Examples: Impressionism/l’impressionnisme ; racism/le racisme
• -if/ive. Examples: furtive/furtif/furtive; creative/créatif/créative

As you can see, not all of these words are identical down to the letter. But knowing that root words in both languages can have these suffixes added to them can be helpful, especially in French conversation. Personally, this rule was one of the things that made speaking French a lot easier for me. If I knew a word in English that had one of these suffixes, there was a good chance that it was the same or similar in French.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you’ll no longer have to memorize vocabulary for words with these endings. After all, there are some that don’t follow the rule. Take “vacation” – in French, it’s les vacances.  Still, these common suffixes are good to keep in mind.

French circumflex words and English

Unlike English, the French language involves a lot of diacritical marks. While most accents in French words are used to indicate things like pronunciation, verb tense, or gender, one of them, the circumflex, is basically just a historical marker.

Most French words that have a circumflex once had an “s” after the accented letter. So, for example, the word château was once chasteau. The word forêt was once forest. 

That “once” is a time when French words were being borrowed into English, and so, interestingly enough, many French circumflex words have English counterparts that are very similar, with an “s”. You may already know or have guessed the English equivalents of château and forêt, for example – castle and forest.  

(Before we continue, yes, I know château is also “chateau” in English, but that word has a very specific connotation and isn’t used as a general term the way château is in French.) 

As you can see with château/castle, not all French circumflex words have remained exactly the same in the two languages. And in some cases, like être , there’s no similar English word at all. So, while the tie between French circumflex words and English could be helpful to keep in mind in some cases (forêt/forest; hôtel/hotel; hôpital/hospital; théâtre/theatre, etc.), it isn’t a constant.

But for etymology fans like myself, it is a pretty neat tie to history, at the very least.  

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False cognates – and why they exist in the first place

Some English and French words are written the same way or very similarly but have evolved to have very different meanings. 

One of the most notorious of these faux amis is préservatif, which does not mean “preservative” in French, but…condom. Misusing this word is one of the most awkward French mistakes you can make! 

So, the moral here is to still learn your vocabulary. But if you’re in a bind, you have a good chance of being able to find an equivalent French word if it contains one of those six suffixes I mentioned, or is related to a French circumflex word.

You may be wondering why faux amis exist at all, since English borrowed words directly from French and Latin. The answer is, it’s simply because of how language evolves. Even in English itself, certain words have changed meaning over time or have additional connotations than they previously did. A very interesting example of this – in both languages – is the word “gay”.  

“Gay” was borrowed into English from the French gai (joyful, flashy).  Over the 20^th century, it came to have an additional meaning in English: homosexual. Today, this is the dominant connotation that comes to mind for most English-speakers. The English “gay” has been borrowed back into French, where it also means “homosexual.” The French word gai(e) still means “happy” in French, although some francophones, including those in Quebec, also use this spelling instead of “gay”.

One of the most important things that etymology can teach us is that words are always evolving. While they’re being spoken and used by human beings, languages are living things. Faux amis aside, that’s pretty cool.

French words that are the same in English

Still, there are many words in English and French that are the same or very similar, both in spelling and meaning. Here’s a list of some of the most common. If you want to go further, at the end of this article, you’ll find a link to an extremely long and thorough alphabetical list. 

French food and dining words that are the same in English

Many English food-related words originally came from French, but a majority of these have changed a bit over the centuries, to be pronounced and written in a more Anglophone way. 

A good example of this are the words derived from the French word and verb dîner, which include dinner, diner, and dinette, as well as the verb “to dine”. 

You’ll notice, first of all, that all of these words are pronounced differently than their French ancestors. You’ll also notice that their meanings have expanded from these two original borrowed words: “dinner” and “to dine” are the counterparts of le dîner and dîner, respectively, but a diner and dinette are types of restaurant.

Interestingly, “dinette” is also a French word, but it’ s a classic example of a faux ami.  In French, une dinette in French is a child’s tea party set or set of plastic food toys.  (It can also mean a light, late evening meal, although I’ve personally never heard it used that way, for what it’s worth.)

This being said, there are other French words related to food and dining whose meaning and spelling have remained more or less the same in French and English. A number of these were borrowed into English in recent centuries, when French cooking became a hallmark of class for Anglophones. 

Here are some of the most common food- and dining -related words that are the same (or extremely similar) in French and English:

• à la carte : when you want to order individual dishes which are not part of a pre-established sequence of courses.
• menu
• apéritif
• café (a type of restaurant)
• picnic 
• salade
• soupe
• omelette
• bon appétit
• hors d’œuvre
• vinaigrette
• restaurant
• alcool (This word was originally borrowed into French from Arabic, by way of Latin)
• chef (This means boss in French and not only “cook”.)

British English speakers also often use some common French food words, including: 

• cornichon
• gateau
• courgette
• aubergine

French fashion and appearance words that are the same or similar in English

Every culture has its trends, fashions, and notions of beauty, but France has an international reputation for expertise in this area. It’s no wonder, then, that so many French words related to fashion and appearance have been borrowed into English. Here’s a list of some of the most common -including one that’s a very recent addition to the English language:

• prêt-à-porter
• chic
• couture
• silhouette
• petite
• faux (usually used to describe synthetic fur (faux fur), as opposed to fur from an animal)
• sans fard – If you’re a fan of pop culture and celebrity gossip, you’ve probably come across this term in recent years. “Sans fard” (sometimes written “sans fards”) means “without makeup” and describes a photo where a person is wearing no makeup, and may not even be groomed in a glamorous way (for example, unbrushed hair, etc.). Of course, sans fard photos aren’t always truthful – many celebrities have been called out for abusing the term, since they are wearing at least very basic makeup and have their hair done in the shot.

French art and culture words that are the same or similar in English

Here are some French words that you’ll often hear or come across (or use) in English. 

• Art Nouveau 
• avant-garde
• bas-relief
• film noir
• matinee (Note that in French, this word is most commonly used as a way to say “morning”.)
• papier mâché (For many English speakers, this is written slightly differently: papier mache)
• trompe l’oeil

In addition to artistic movements like Art Nouveau and Art Deco, which keep their French names in English,  many artistic movements are written in a similar way in French and English. One of the main reasons for this is the suffix -ism/-isme.  Here are a few examples:

• Impressionism/impressionnisme
• Realism/réalisme
• Surrealism/surréalisme
• Cubism/cubisme

You can find many other French words related to culture and the arts, including classical dance-related vocabulary on this excellent and extensive list.  

Other common French words used in English

Some French words we use in English, like repertoire and protégé, don’t have exactly the same meaning in both languages – or at least, not the same primary meaning. For example, répertoire in French is most commonly used to describe a list of phone numbers; protégé means “protected” in French).  But many other French words in English are used the same way in French, more or less. Here are some of them:

• bourgeois
• brunette
• blond(e)
• adieu
• au contraire
• chauffeur
• chic
• critique
• depot
• déjà vu
• (eau de) cologne
• eau de toilette
• en route
• entrepreneur
• fiancé (Note that while in English, this can refer to a man or a woman, in French, a female person someone is engaged to is fiancée, the word’s feminine form.)
• genre
• laissez-faire
• maître d’ (this is used in its complete form, maître d’hôtel, in French)
• joie de vivre
• toilette
• nouveau riche
• faux pas
• je ne sais quoi
• carte blanche
• voyeur
• R.S.V.P (Many English-speakers don’t realize this is an abbreviation of Répondez s’il vous plait)
• souvenir
• par excellence
• potpourri
• Bon voyage (learn more here)
• cliché (Note that in French, in addition to its most well-known meaning, cliché is another way to say “photo”)
• au pair
• femme fatale
• bouquet
• boutique
• coup
• milieu 
• ménage à trois
• bon vivant
• bon mot
• coup d’état
• de rigueur
• savoir-faire
• tête à tête
• Voila (I usually see the word written without an accent in English, but remember that it’s actually written like this in French: Voilà).
• du jour

These are just the most common French words used in English, but there are many more, especially if you’re watching or reading something featuring educated, possibly pretentious characters – or spending time with them in real life.  You can find a more extensive list of French words and expressions in English here. 

The three kinds of French words in English – and where to find them all

The words on our lists are among the most noticeable French words in English, because they haven’t changed (or haven’t changed much) from their original spellings and meanings. But what about the thousands of other French words that are supposed to make up the English language?

Since most of these words have evolved over the centuries, they may still be very similar to their French ancestors, or quite a bit different. Take, for example, one of my favorite English words, “jaunty”, which evolved in both spelling and meaning from the French word gentil. 

You can find an alphabetical list of French words in English, including these original borrowings that have evolved away from their French forms, here.  

And of course, don’t forget the English words that have a counterpart in French thanks to Latin. You can see some of those on this list. 

Do you have a favorite French word or expression that’s used in English? Are there any words these lists that surprised you? If so, why not try to use them today?

A great number of words of French origin have entered the English language to the extent that many Latin words have come to the English language. 45% of all English words have a French origin.^{[1][verification needed][better source needed]} This suggests that 80,000 words should appear in this list; this list, however, only includes words imported directly from French, such as both joy and joyous, and does not include derivatives formed in English of words borrowed from French, including joyful, joyfulness, partisanship, and parenthood. It also excludes both combinations of words of French origin with words whose origin is a language other than French — e.g., ice cream, sunray, jellyfish, killjoy, lifeguard, and passageway— and English-made combinations of words of French origin — e.g., grapefruit (grape + fruit), layperson (lay + person), mailorder, magpie, marketplace, surrender, petticoat, and straitjacket. This list also excludes words that come from French but were introduced into the English language via a language other than French, which include commodore, domineer, filibuster, ketone, loggia, lotto, mariachi, monsignor, oboe, paella, panzer, picayune, ranch, vendue, and veneer.

English words of French origin can also be distinguished from French words and expressions used by English speakers.

Although French is derived mainly from Latin (which accounts for about 60% of English vocabulary either directly or via a Romance language), it also includes words from Gaulish and Germanic languages (especially Old Frankish). Since English is of Germanic origin, words that have entered English from the Germanic elements in French might not strike the eye as distinctively from French. Conversely, as Latin gave many derivatives to both the English and the French languages, ascertaining that a given Latinate derivative did not come to the English language via French can be difficult in a few cases.

Historical context[edit]

Most of the French vocabulary now appearing in English was imported over the centuries following the Norman Conquest of 1066, when England came under the administration of Norman-speaking peoples. William the Conqueror invaded the British Isles, distributing lands and property to Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French soldiers. As a result, Old French became the language of culture and the administration, evolving into Anglo-Norman French. The majority of the population of England continued to use their Anglo-Saxon language, but it was influenced by the language of the ruling elite, resulting in doublets. Consider for example the words for the meats eaten by the Anglo-Norman nobility and the corresponding animals raised by the Anglo-Saxon peasants: beef/ox, mutton/sheep, veal/calf, pork/pig, or pairs of words pertaining to different registers of language: commence/start, commerce/trade, continue/go on, depart/leave, disengage/withdraw, encounter/meet, maintain/uphold, marry/wed, menace/threat, purchase/buy, revenue/income, vend/sell. Words of French origin often refer to more abstract or elaborate notions than their Anglo-Saxon equivalents (e.g. liberty/freedom, justice/fairness), and are therefore of less frequent use in everyday language. This may not, however, be the case for all English words of French origin. Consider, for example, some of the most common words in English: able, car, chair, city, country, different, fine, fruit, journey, juice, just, part, people, person, place, real, stay, table, travel, use, very, and wait.

After the rise of Henry Plantagenet to the throne of England, other forms of dialectal French may have gained in influence to the detriment of Anglo-Norman French (notably the variants of Anjou where the House of Plantagenet came from, and possibly Poitevin, the tongue of Eleanor of Aquitaine). With the English claim to the throne of France, the influence of the language in use at the royal court of France in Paris increased. The cultural influence of France remained strong in the following centuries and from the Renaissance onward borrowings were mainly made from Parisian French, which became the de facto standard language of France.

Notable fields of French influence[edit]

Feudalism[edit]

Norman rule of England had a lasting impact on British society. Words from Anglo-Norman or Old French include terms related to chivalry (homage, liege, peasant, seigniorage, suzerain, vassal, villain) and other institutions (bailiff, chancellor, council, government, mayor, minister, parliament), the organisation of religion (abbey, clergy, cloister, diocese, friar, mass, parish, prayer, preach, priest, sacristy, vestment, vestry, vicar), the nobility (baron, count, dame, duke, marquis, prince, sir), and the art of war (armour, baldric, dungeon, hauberk, mail, portcullis, rampart, surcoat). Many of these words related to the feudal system or medieval warfare have a Germanic origin (mainly through Old Frankish) (see also French words of Germanic origin).

The Norman origin of the British monarchy is still visible in expressions like Prince Regent, heir apparent, Princess Royal where the adjective is placed after the noun, like in French.

Heraldry[edit]

The vocabulary of heraldry has been heavily influenced by French (blazon, or, argent, sable, gules, passant), for more details see tinctures, attitudes, and charges of heraldry.

Sometimes used in heraldry, some mythological beasts (cockatrice, dragon, griffin, hippogriff, phoenix) or exotic animals (lion, leopard, antelope, gazelle, giraffe, camel, zebu, elephant, baboon, macaque, mouflon, dolphin, ocelot, ostrich, chameleon) draw their name from French. It is also the case of some animals native of Europe (via Anglo-Norman: eagle, buzzard, falcon, squirrel, coney, rabbit, leveret, lizard, marten, ferret, salmon, viper).

Military[edit]

The vocabulary of warfare and the military include many words and expressions of French origin (accoutrements, aide-de-camp, army, artillery, battalion, bivouac, brigade, camouflage, carabineer, cavalry, cordon sanitaire, corps, corvette, dragoon, espionage, esprit de corps, état major, fusilier, grenadier, guard, hors-de-combat, infantry, latrine, legionnaire, logistics, matériel, marine, morale, musketeer, officer, pistol, platoon, reconnaissance/reconnoitre, regiment, rendezvous, siege, soldier, sortie, squad, squadron, surrender, surveillance, terrain, troop, volley). This includes military ranks: admiral, captain, colonel, corporal, general, lieutenant, sergeant. Many fencing terms are also from French.

Politics and economics[edit]

The political/economic lexicon include many words of French origin like money, treasury, exchequer, commerce, finance, tax, liberalism, capitalism, materialism, nationalism, plebiscite, coup d’état, regime, sovereignty, state, administration, federal, bureaucracy, constitution, jurisdiction, district.

Law[edit]

The judicial lexicon has also been heavily influenced by French (justice, judge, jury, attorney, court, case).

Diplomacy[edit]

attaché, chargé d’affaires, envoy, embassy, chancery, diplomacy, démarche, communiqué, aide-mémoire, détente, entente, rapprochement, accord, treaty, alliance, passport, protocol.

Arts[edit]

art, music, dance, theatre, author, stage, paint, canvas, perform, harmony, melody, rhythm, trumpet, note, director, gallery, portrait, brush, pallet, montage, surrealism, impressionism, fauvism, cubism, symbolism, art nouveau, gouache, aquarelle, collage, render, frieze, grisaille.

Architecture[edit]

aisle, arcade, arch, vault, voussoir, belfry, arc-boutant, buttress, bay, lintel, estrade, facade, balustrade, terrace, lunette, niche, pavilion, pilaster, porte cochère.

Aviation and automobile engineering[edit]

France played a pioneering role in the fields of aviation (nacelle, empennage, fuselage, aileron, altimeter, canard, decalage, monocoque, turbine) and automobile engineering or design (chassis, piston, arbor, grille, tonneau, berline, sedan, limousine, cabriolet, coupé, convertible).

Cuisine[edit]

baba au rhum, beef, beef bourguignon, boudin, caramel, casserole, cassoulet, clafoutis, confit, consommé, cream, croissant, custard, filet mignon, fillet, foie gras, flognarde, fondant, fondue, gateau, gratin, madeleine, marmalade, mayonnaise, meringue, mille-feuille, mustard, mutton, navarin, pâté, pastry, petit four, pork, porridge, potage, pudding, puree, ragout, ratatouille, roux, salad, sauce, sausage, soufflé, soup, stew, terrine, trifle, veal, vol-au-vent.

Colours and Other Influences[edit]

Other influences include the names of colours (ecru, mauve, beige, carmine, maroon, blue, orange, violet, vermilion, turquoise, lilac, perse, scarlet, cerise), vegetables or fruits (courgette, aubergine, cabbage, carrot, cherry, chestnut, cucumber, nutmeg, quince, spinach, lemon, orange, apricot), and months of the year (January, March, May, July, November, December).

Terms coined by French people[edit]

Some of the French words that made their way into the English language were coined by French speaking inventors, discoverers or pioneers, or scientists: cinema, television, helicopter, parachute, harmonium, bathyscaphe, lactose, lecithin, bacteriophage, chlorophyll, mastodon, pterodactyl, oxide, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, photography, stethoscope, thermometer, stratosphere, troposphere.

Named after French people[edit]

Some French words were named after French people (from their family name), especially in the fields of science (ampere, appertisation, baud, becquerel, braille, coulomb, curie, daguerreotype, pascal, pasteurise, vernier), botany and mineralogy (begonia, bougainvillea, clementine, magnolia, dolomite, nicotine), fashion and style or any other cultural aspect (lavalier, leotard, recamier, mansard, chauvinism, kir, praline, saxophone, silhouette, guillotine).

Proper names[edit]

The names of certain cities in non-francophone regions/countries entered English with French spelling (Louisville, Constance, Ypres, Bruges, Louvain, Turin, Milan, Plaisance, Florence, Rome, Naples, Syracuse, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, Seville, Constantinople).

In North America, the names of some of the Native American peoples or First Nations the French came in contact with first are from French (Sioux, Saulteaux, Iroquois, Nez Perce, Huron, Cheyenne, Algonquin). It is also the case of some place names such as Canada, Arkansas, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Vermont, Baton Rouge, Boise, Chicago, Des Moines, Detroit.

Main patterns of influence[edit]

Some words from Old French have been imported again from Middle French or Modern French, but have generally taken a more restrictive or specialised meaning the second time. Consider for instance these doublets : chair/chaise, chief/chef, luminary/luminaire, liquor/liqueur, castle/château, hostel/hotel, mask/masque, necessary/nécessaire, petty/petit, ticket/etiquette, troop/troupe, vanguard/avant-garde. Note that the word in French has kept the general meaning: e.g. château in French means «castle» and chef means «chief». Even when not imported several times in different forms, loanwords from French generally have a more restrictive or specialised meaning than in French: e.g. legume (in Fr. légume means «vegetable»), gateau (in Fr. gâteau means «cake»).

In some cases, the English language has been more conservative than the French one with Old French words, at least in spelling if not in pronunciation: e.g. apostle (O.Fr. apostle / M.Fr. apôtre), castle (O.Fr. castel or chastel / M.Fr. château), forest (O.Fr. forest / M.Fr. forêt), vessel (O.Fr. vaissel / M.Fr. vaisseau). Other Old French words have even disappeared from Modern French: dandelion.

On the other hand, a move to restore the classical roots (Latin or Ancient Greek) occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries. Thus words from Old French saw their spelling re-Latinized. Although in most cases this did not affect their pronunciation (e.g. debt, doubt, indict, mayor), in some cases it did (e.g. abnormal, adventure, benefit). The ph transcription of words of Greek etymology was restored instead of the f. Thus fantosme became phantom, fesan became pheasant. This move occurred also in French, although less systematically: Old French farmacie became pharmacie («pharmacy»), fenix became phénix («phoenix»), but fantosme became fantôme («phantom, ghost») and fesan became faisan («pheasant»).

Beside re-Latinization that blurred the French origin of some words (e.g. peradventure), other modifications in spelling have included folk etymology alterations (e.g. andiron, belfry, crayfish, female, gillyflower, gingerbread, penthouse, pickaxe, pulley).

Furthermore, the spelling of some words was changed to keep the pronunciation as close to the original as possible (e.g. leaven), whereas in other cases the French spelling was kept and resulted in totally different pronunciation than French (e.g. leopard, levee).^[2] Terms that most recently entered the English language have kept French pronunciation and spelling (ambiance, aplomb, arbitrage, armoire, atelier, barrage, bonhomie, bourgeoisie, brochure, bureau, café, camaraderie, catalogue, chandelier, chauffeur, coiffure, collage, cortège, crèche, critique, debris, décor, dénouement, depot, dossier, élite, entourage, ennui, entrepreneur, espionage, expertise, exposé, financier, garage, genre, glacier, intrigue, liaison, lingerie, machine, massage, millionaire, mirage, montage, panache, penchant, personnel, plaque, promenade, rapport, repertoire, reservoir, routine, sabotage, sachet, souvenir, tableau, terrain, tranche), though this may change with time (e.g. the initial h in hotel is not silent anymore, consider also the evolving pronunciation of herb, or garage). Expressions like femme fatale, faux pas, haute couture, bête noire and enfant terrible are still recognisably French.

Borrowings are not a one-way process (See Reborrowing), some words of French origin ultimately come from Old English (Anglo-Saxon words): e.g. bateau, chiffon, gourmet. While conversely English words of French origin made their way «back» into Modern French: budget, challenge, design, discount, establishment, express, fuel, gay, gin, humour, interview, jury, management, mess, pedigree, rave, record, reporter, spleen, sport, squat, standard, suspense, tennis, ticket, toast, toboggan, tunnel, vintage.

A–C[edit]

D–I[edit]

J–R[edit]

S–Z[edit]

See also[edit]

• Influence of French on English
• Glossary of French words and expressions in English
• Law French
• Glossary of fencing (predominantly from French)
• Glossary of ballet (predominantly from French)
• Lists of English loanwords by country or language of origin
• List of English words of Gaulish origin
• List of English words of Latin origin
• List of English Latinates of Germanic origin
• Latin influence in English
• List of French words of Germanic origin
• List of French words of Gaulish origin
• List of French words of Arabic origin
• List of French words of English origin
• List of German words of French origin

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Online Etymology Dictionary
• Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales (in French)