French Meaning

/fɹɛnt͡ʃ/
A1

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Listen pronunciation

verbTo prepare food by cutting it into strips.

nameThe language of France, shared by the neighboring countries Belgium, Monaco, and Switzerland and by former French colonies around the world.

I don't speak French well enough!
It's quite difficult to master French in 2 or 3 years.
You must be able to speak French for this job.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The native Parisian spoke ____ with a perfect accent.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She spent a year living in Paris to improve her ____ speaking skills and experience the local culture.

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.

"I could speak but little French." — 1720, Daniel Defoe, Memoirs of a Cavalier, page 13:
"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." — 1991, Michael Clyne, Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 169:
"Almost three quarters of the population 65 and older reported speaking French." — 1997, Albert Valdman, French and Creole in Louisiana, page 29:
"Although he would spend the rest of his life in France, Picasso never mastered the language, and during those early years he was especially self-conscious about how bad his French was." — 2004, Jack Flam, Matisse and Picasso: The Story of Their Rivalry and Friendship, page 18:
"The Frenches of England remain as working languages in the different registers of various occupational communities and for particular social rituals. Beyond the fifteenth century, French is a much less substantial presence in England, though[…]" — 2013, Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, Language and Culture in Medieval Britain: The French of England, C.1100-c.1500, Boydell & Brewer Ltd, →ISBN, page 361:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The native Parisian spoke ____ with a perfect accent.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She spent a year living in Paris to improve her ____ speaking skills and experience the local culture.

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