take french leave
/ˌteɪk fɹɛnt͡ʃ ˈliv/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.86 in modern English
30
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
1
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To leave quietly and unnoticed, without asking for permission or informing anyone; to slip out.
Dated; Informal; Intransitive verb
verb
To desert or be temporarily absent from duty or service without permission; to go absent without leave (AWOL).
Dated; Informal; Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "As for Ditton, after all his courting, and his compliment, he ſtole avvay an Iriſhman's bride, and took a French leave of me and his maſter; […]"
- "Thus through the vveary vvatch of ſleepleſs night, / This learned ploughman plods in piteous plight; / Till the dim taper takes French leave to doze, / And the fat folio tumbles on his toes."
- "What, Master Peveril, is this your foreign breeding? or have you learned in France to take French leave of your friends?"
- "[N]o sooner do European servants arrive in America, than, perceiving such an outcry about equality and independence, and learning the facilities which are afforded of otherwise procuring the means of existence, they immediately become ashamed of the fancied meanness of their station, take French leave of their employers, and, procuring land for themselves, commence the occupation of farming on their own account."
- "Jimminy Crickets! The idea of what was about to become of all my things opened vistas. They’d think I took French leave lacking spondulics. I’d talked about rubber, but never shown my certificates, and I’d been losing heavily in the Casino. The Baroness was busted!"
- "As, taking French leave, she passed me, I bowed and she, taking my hand, fixed her round violet orbs upon me as if to say: "How long since we met, do let us talk of it next time.""
Etymology
From take + French leave, apparently from a French custom, already recorded in the 18th century, of leaving from receptions or other events without formally announcing one’s departure to the host or hostess.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌteɪk fɹɛnt͡ʃ ˈliv/
- British English: /ˌteɪk fɹɛnt͡ʃ ˈliːv/