congé
Americannoun
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congés
plural
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leave-taking; farewell.
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permission to depart.
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sudden dismissal.
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a bow or obeisance.
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Architecture. a concave molding, as an apophyge, formed by a quadrant curving away from a given surface and terminating perpendicular to a fillet parallel to that surface.
noun
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permission to depart or dismissal, esp when formal
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a farewell
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architect a concave moulding See also cavetto
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of congé
From French, dating back to 1695–1705; see origin at congee
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Left to herself, she would make light of such a suitor, and give him his congé with a brusque promptitude.
From The Wild Huntress Love in the Wilderness by Mayne Reid
“Gone to get his congé, Flick,” said Vanleigh.
From Thereby Hangs a Tale Volume One by George Manville Fenn
On the vacancy of a see, the cathedral chapter applied to the crown for a congé d'élire.
From History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. Vol. II. by James Anthony Froude
And then, perhaps considering that she had been sufficiently amiable to him, she gave him his congé with a pleasant little nod.
From The Crimson Tide A Novel by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
Adieu, from the French, is still more ceremonious than farewell; congé, also from the French, is commonly contemptuous or supercilious, and equivalent to dismissal.
From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by James Champlin Fernald
They then made me many apologies and congés, stretching forth their hands in token of friendship; in short, they now behaved with as much civility as before with rudeness.
From Memoirs and Historical Chronicles of the Courts of Europe Marguerite de Valois, Madame de Pompadour, and Catherine de Medici by Various
Boiardo did not disdain to assume the style of a minstrel addressing his courtly audience with compliments and congés at the beginning and ending of each canto.
From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by John Addington Symonds
Nominally, the army is about 200,000 men, but it is whispered that numerous congés are given, in order to divert the funds that are thus saved to other objects.
From Recollections of Europe by James Fenimore Cooper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
