French.
The language of France, shared by the neighboring countries Belgium, Monaco, and Switzerland and by former French colonies around the world.
Meaning & usage
The language of France, shared by the neighboring countries Belgium, Monaco, and Switzerland and by former French colonies around the world.
She speaks French.
The ability of a person to communicate in French.
My French is a little rusty.
French language and literature as an object of study.
I'm taking French next semester.
Vulgar language.
Pardon my French.
A surname originating as an ethnonym.
Dawn French.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *frankô Proto-West Germanic *Frankō Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Proto-West Germanic *Frankisk Old English Frencisċder. Middle English Frensch English French Inherited from Middle English Frenche, Frensch, Frensc, Frenshe, Frenk, Franche, from Old English Frenċisċ (“Frankish, French”), from Proto-West Germanic *Frankisk (“Frankish”), equivalent to Frank + -ish (compare Frankish). Cognate with Middle Low German vranksch, frenkisch, vrenkesch, vrenksch (“Frankish, French”), Middle High German vrenkisch, vrensch ("Frankish, Franconian; > German fränkisch (“Frankish, Franconian”)), Danish fransk (“French”), Swedish fransk, fransysk (“French”), Icelandic franska (“French”). Doublet of Frankish; piecewise doublet of Francis, Franz, and Francisco, which are derived from Late Latin Franciscus In reference to vulgar language, from expressions such as pardon my French in the early 19th century, originally in reference to actual (but often mildly impolite) French expressions by the upper class, subsequently adopted ironically by the lower class for English curse words under the charitable conceit that the listener would not be familiar with them. In reference to vermouth, a shortened form of French vermouth, distinguished as usually being drier than Italian vermouth.
The people of France; groups of French people.
The Hundred Years' War was fought between the English and the French.
Under the Fourth Republic, more and more French unionized.
Synonym of oral sex, especially fellatio.
Ellipsis of French vermouth, a type of dry vermouth.
A French person.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *frankô Proto-West Germanic *Frankō Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Proto-West Germanic *Frankisk Old English Frencisċder. Middle English Frensch English French Inherited from Middle English Frenche, Frensch, Frensc, Frenshe, Frenk, Franche, from Old English Frenċisċ (“Frankish, French”), from Proto-West Germanic *Frankisk (“Frankish”), equivalent to Frank + -ish (compare Frankish). Cognate with Middle Low German vranksch, frenkisch, vrenkesch, vrenksch (“Frankish, French”), Middle High German vrenkisch, vrensch ("Frankish, Franconian; > German fränkisch (“Frankish, Franconian”)), Danish fransk (“French”), Swedish fransk, fransysk (“French”), Icelandic franska (“French”). Doublet of Frankish; piecewise doublet of Francis, Franz, and Francisco, which are derived from Late Latin Franciscus In reference to vulgar language, from expressions such as pardon my French in the early 19th century, originally in reference to actual (but often mildly impolite) French expressions by the upper class, subsequently adopted ironically by the lower class for English curse words under the charitable conceit that the listener would not be familiar with them. In reference to vermouth, a shortened form of French vermouth, distinguished as usually being drier than Italian vermouth.
Of or relating to France.
the French border with Italy
Of or relating to the people or culture of France.
French customs
Of or relating to the French language.
French verbs
Of or related to oral sex, especially fellatio.
French active
French girl
Used to form names or references to venereal diseases.
French disease
French crown
Used to form names or references to an unconventional or fancy style.
French curve
French cut
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *frankô Proto-West Germanic *Frankō Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Proto-West Germanic *Frankisk Old English Frencisċder. Middle English Frensch English French Inherited from Middle English Frenche, Frensch, Frensc, Frenshe, Frenk, Franche, from Old English Frenċisċ (“Frankish, French”), from Proto-West Germanic *Frankisk (“Frankish”), equivalent to Frank + -ish (compare Frankish). Cognate with Middle Low German vranksch, frenkisch, vrenkesch, vrenksch (“Frankish, French”), Middle High German vrenkisch, vrensch ("Frankish, Franconian; > German fränkisch (“Frankish, Franconian”)), Danish fransk (“French”), Swedish fransk, fransysk (“French”), Icelandic franska (“French”). Doublet of Frankish; piecewise doublet of Francis, Franz, and Francisco, which are derived from Late Latin Franciscus In reference to vulgar language, from expressions such as pardon my French in the early 19th century, originally in reference to actual (but often mildly impolite) French expressions by the upper class, subsequently adopted ironically by the lower class for English curse words under the charitable conceit that the listener would not be familiar with them. In reference to vermouth, a shortened form of French vermouth, distinguished as usually being drier than Italian vermouth.
Alternative letter-case form of french.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *frankô Proto-West Germanic *Frankō Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Proto-West Germanic *Frankisk Old English Frencisċder. Middle English Frensch English French Inherited from Middle English Frenche, Frensch, Frensc, Frenshe, Frenk, Franche, from Old English Frenċisċ (“Frankish, French”), from Proto-West Germanic *Frankisk (“Frankish”), equivalent to Frank + -ish (compare Frankish). Cognate with Middle Low German vranksch, frenkisch, vrenkesch, vrenksch (“Frankish, French”), Middle High German vrenkisch, vrensch ("Frankish, Franconian; > German fränkisch (“Frankish, Franconian”)), Danish fransk (“French”), Swedish fransk, fransysk (“French”), Icelandic franska (“French”). Doublet of Frankish; piecewise doublet of Francis, Franz, and Francisco, which are derived from Late Latin Franciscus In reference to vulgar language, from expressions such as pardon my French in the early 19th century, originally in reference to actual (but often mildly impolite) French expressions by the upper class, subsequently adopted ironically by the lower class for English curse words under the charitable conceit that the listener would not be familiar with them. In reference to vermouth, a shortened form of French vermouth, distinguished as usually being drier than Italian vermouth.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.