Charente

American  

[sha-rahnt] / ʃaˈrɑ̃t /

noun

1. a department in W France. 2,306 sq. mi. (5,975 sq. km). Angoulême.

---

Charente British  

/ ʃarɑ̃t /

noun

1. a department of W central France, in Poitou-Charentes region. Capital: Angoulême. Pop: 341 275 (2003 est). Area: 5972 sq km (2329 sq miles)

2. a river in W France, rising in the Massif Central and flowing west to the Bay of Biscay. Length: 362 km (225 miles)

---

Example Sentences

France recorded its highest temperature of 37.8C in the Charente department.

From Barron's • May 30, 2026

Thousands of jobs are at stake in the Charente region alone, he says: "Cognac is a product that's made for export."

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2025

Lie With Me, which was a No 1 bestseller in France, follows a first love between two teenage boys, Besson and Thomas Andrieux, a fellow pupil at his lycée in the Charente in south-west France.

From The Guardian • Aug. 18, 2019

Born: Nov. 5, 1919 in Paris, son of a wealthy mining engineer and heir to rich estates in the cognac-producing department of the Charente, north of Bordeaux.

From Time Magazine Archive

In descending the tortuous course of the Charente, contrary winds so impeded our progress, that we did not reach the Medusa till the morrow, having taken twenty-four hours in sailing four leagues.

From Thrilling Narratives of Mutiny, Murder and Piracy A weird series of tales of shipwreck and disaster, from the earliest part of the century to the present time, with accounts of providential escapes and heart-rending fatalities. by Anonymous