Gallicism
Americannoun
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a French idiom or expression used in another language, as Je ne sais quoi when used in English.
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a feature that is characteristic of or peculiar to the French language.
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a custom or trait considered to be characteristically French.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Gallicism
First recorded in 1650–60; from French gallicisme; see Gallic, -ism
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.
And this opens a curious question as to how long this Gallicism maintained itself in England.
From The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell by Lowell, James Russell
This last, however, may be a Gallicism, from étaler.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 25, November, 1859 by Various
He was a tall, black-haired, mercurial Frenchman, with an eye like a falcon, who, with only an occasional Gallicism purposely indulged in, spoke American like a native.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 25, November, 1859 by Various
"Another forfeit for a Gallicism," said a Russian writer who was present.
From War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo, graf
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
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.