List of English words of French origin
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A great number of words of
English words of French origin can also be distinguished from French words and expressions used by English speakers.
Although French is derived mainly from
Historical context
Most of the French vocabulary now appearing in English was imported over the centuries following the
After the rise of
Notable fields of French influence
Feudalism
Norman rule of England had a lasting impact on British society. Words from
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
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, wyvern) 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: buzzard, coney, eagle, egret, falcon, ferret, heron, leveret, lizard, marten, rabbit, salmon, squirrel, viper).
Military
The vocabulary of warfare and the military include many words and expressions of French origin (
Politics and economics
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
The judicial lexicon has also been heavily influenced by French (justice, judge, jury, attorney, court, case).
Diplomacy
attaché, chargé d'affaires, envoy, embassy, chancery, diplomacy, démarche, communiqué, aide-mémoire, détente, entente, rapprochement, accord, treaty, alliance, passport, protocol.
Arts
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
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
France played a pioneering role in the fields of aviation (nacelle, empennage, fuselage, fenestron, aileron, altimeter, canard, decalage, monocoque, turbine) and automobile engineering or design (chassis, piston, arbor, grille, tonneau, berline, sedan, limousine, cabriolet, coupé, convertible).
Cuisine
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
Other influences include the names of colours (ecru, mauve, beige, carmine, maroon, blue, orange, violet, vermilion, turquoise, lilac, perse, russet, 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
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
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
The names of certain cities in non-francophone regions/countries entered English with French spelling (
In
Main patterns of influence
Some words from
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. foliage, peradventure), other modifications in spelling have included folk etymology alterations (e.g. andiron, belfry, crayfish, female, furbelow, 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, fatigue, financier, garage, genre, glacier, intrigue, liaison, lingerie, machine, massage, millionaire, mirage, montage, panache, parti pris, 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, or Middle English: e.g. lingot. 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, magazine, management, mess, pedigree, performance, rave, record, reporter, spleen, sport, squat, standard, suspense, tennis, ticket, toast, toboggan, tunnel, vintage.
A–C
D–I
J–R
S–Z
See also
- 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
- ^ "Why Study French". Athabasca University. Archived from the original on 2021-11-24. Retrieved 2014-10-16.
- ^ Leading some to say that "English is just badly pronounced French".
External links