french
/fɹɛnt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.09 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
The language of France, shared by the neighboring countries Belgium, Monaco, and Switzerland and by former French colonies around the world.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "She speaks French."
- "Ne mowe we alle Latin wite... Ne French..."
- "I... wolde also be bolde in such french as is peculiare to the lawys of this realme, to leue it wyth them in wrytynge to."
- "I could speak but little French."
- "Thus, complementary to the French of France, the Quebecois (and in a lesser degree the Frenches of Africa, Swiss French, etc.) would constitute languages in their own right."
- "Almost three quarters of the population 65 and older reported speaking French."
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Frenche, Frenċisċ, *Frankisk, Franciscus, French, Frencisc
- Suffix: Frank
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /fɹɛnt͡ʃ/
- British English: /fɹɛnt͡ʃ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Frenches (plural)
more French (comparative)
Frencher (comparative)
most French (superlative)
Frenchest (superlative)
Frenches (present, singular)
Frenching (participle, present)
Frenched (participle, past)
Frenched (past)