French

See also: french

English

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Etymology

From Middle English Frenche, Frensch, Frensc, Frenshe, Frenkisch, Franche, from Old English Frenċisċ (“French”, literally “Frankish”), equivalent to Frank +‎ -ish. Cognate with Danish fransk (“French”), Swedish fransk, fransysk (“French”), Icelandic franska (“French”). Compare Frankish.

Pronunciation
  • (UK, US) enPR: frĕnch, IPA(key): /fɹɛnt͡ʃ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛntʃ
  • Rhymes: -ɪntʃ

Noun

French (countable and uncountable, plural French)

  1. (uncountable) A Romance language spoken primarily in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, Valle d'Aosta and many former French colonies.
    • 1997, Albert Valdman, French and Creole in Louisiana, page 29:
      Almost three quarters of the population 65 and older reported speaking French.
    • 2004, Jack Flam, Matisse and Picasso: The Story of Their Rivalry and Friendship, page 18:
      Although he would spend the rest of his life in France, Picasso never mastered the language, and during those early years he was especially self-conscious about how bad his French was.
  2. (collective in the plural) People of France, collectively.
    The French and the English have often been at war.
    • 2002, Jeremy Thornton, The French and Indian War, page 14:
      On the way, scouts reported that some French were heading toward them across the ice.
  3. (informal) Vulgar language.
    Pardon my French.

Usage notes

When used to refer collectively to people of France, the word French is preceded by the definite article or some other determiner.

Derived terms

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also
  • Wiktionary's coverage of French terms
  • Appendix:French Swadesh list for a Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words in French

Proper noun

French

  1. A surname​.

Derived terms

Adjective

French (comparative more French, superlative most French)

  1. Of or relating to France.
    the French border with Italy
    • 2015 May 3, John Oliver, “Standardized Testing”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 2, episode 12, HBO:
      That must have hurt, especially because you knew the French children weren’t even trying. “Uh, go on, play weez your seellee nambeurs. Zey tell you nosseeng of ze true naytcheur of ze soula. I’ll weepa for you.”
  2. Of or relating to the people or culture of France.
    French customs
  3. Of or relating to the French language.
    French verbs
  4. (prostitute's slang) Oral sex, usually meaning fellatio, sometimes cunnilingus.[1]

Synonyms

Derived terms
Terms derived from the adjective French

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

References
  1. French, adj. and n. 3c. Oxford English Dictionary (subscription required). Retrieved: 2015-10-06.

Verb

French (third-person singular simple present Frenches, present participle Frenching, simple past and past participle Frenched)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of french
    • 1995, Jack Womack, Random Acts of Senseless Violence, page 87:
      Even before I thought about what I was doing we Frenched and kissed with tongues.

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Translations
to french — see french

See also

Further reading
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