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verlan

British  
/ vɛrlɑ̃ /

noun

  1. a variety of French slang in which the syllables are inverted, such as meuf for femme , and also incorporating Arabic words and phrases

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of verlan

C20: from inverting the syllables of the French word l'envers meaning the other way round

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.

In France speaking backward is called verlan, a term that is the inversion of the syllables of l’envers, meaning “the inverse.”

From Scientific American • Oct. 12, 2023

They spoke of black people not with the historically loaded French word “noir” — but with the English word “black” or the verlan, “renoi.”

From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2020

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.