Gallicism

American  

[gal-uh-siz-uhm] / ˈgæl əˌsɪz əm /

Or gallicism

noun

1. a French idiom or expression used in another language, as Je ne sais quoi when used in English.

2. a feature that is characteristic of or peculiar to the French language.

3. a custom or trait considered to be characteristically French.

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Gallicism British  

/ ˈɡælɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. a word or idiom borrowed from French

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Etymology

Origin of Gallicism

First recorded in 1650–60; from French gallicisme; see Gallic, -ism

Example Sentences

A considerable number of French came over in that manner, so that life in California was then, as now, considerably leavened by Gallicism.

From The Forty-Niners A Chronicle of the California Trail and El Dorado by White, Stewart Edward

In respect of words which are now entirely received by the whole nation, it is often possible to designate the writers who first substituted them for some affected Gallicism or unnecessary Latinism.

From English Past and Present by Palmer, Abram Smythe

It is a Gallicism from the      French "defendre."

From Diary of Samuel Pepys — Volume 24: September/October 1663 by Bright, Mynors

His style is more deeply tainted with Gallicism than that of any other English writer with whom we are acquainted.

From Critical and Historical Essays — Volume 1 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

Gallicism she objected to; the clarity of the French seemed to her superficial; she saw depth in the reserved and taciturn Northern, particularly the Norwegian, nature.

From Recollections of My Childhood and Youth by Brandes, Georg Morris Cohen