French
1[ french ]
/ frɛntʃ /
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adjective
of, relating to, or characteristic of France or its inhabitants, language, or culture: French cooking.
noun
(used with a plural verb) the people of France collectively: Philosophies advanced by the French during the Age of Reason profoundly influenced the American Founding Fathers.
a Romance language spoken in France, parts of Belgium and Switzerland, and in areas colonized after 1500 by France. Abbreviations: F, Fr.
verb (used with object)
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Idioms about French
excuse / pardon one's French, (used to excuse or apologize for the use of vulgarity): Pardon my French—I didn’t realize there were ladies present.
Origin of French
1OTHER WORDS FROM French
Frenchness, nounWords nearby French
Fremantle, fremd, fremitus, Fremont, frenate, French, French Academy, French and Indian War, French arch, French bean, French bed
Other definitions for French (2 of 2)
French2
[ french ]
/ frɛntʃ /
noun
Alice "Octave Thanet", 1850–1934, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.
Daniel Chester, 1850–1931, U.S. sculptor.
Sir John Den·ton Pink·stone [den-tn -pingk-stohn, -stuhn], /ˈdɛn tn ˈpɪŋk stoʊn, -stən/, 1st Earl of Ypres, 1852–1925, English field marshal in World War I.
Marilyn, 1929–2009, U.S. novelist and nonfiction writer.
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use French in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for French (1 of 2)
French1
/ (frɛntʃ) /
noun
the official language of France: also an official language of Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, and certain other countries. It is the native language of approximately 70 million people; also used for diplomacy. Historically, French is an Indo-European language belonging to the Romance groupSee also Old French, Anglo-French
the French (functioning as plural) the natives, citizens, or inhabitants of France collectively
See French vermouth
adjective
relating to, denoting, or characteristic of France, the French, or their languageRelated prefixes: Franco-, Gallo-
(in Canada) of or relating to French Canadians
Derived forms of French
Frenchness, nounWord Origin for French
Old English Frencisc French, Frankish; see Frank
British Dictionary definitions for French (2 of 2)
French2
/ (frɛntʃ) /
noun
Sir John Denton Pinkstone, 1st Earl of Ypres. 1852–1925, British field marshal in World War I: commanded the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium (1914–15); Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1918–21)
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