French

How to spell french

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce french

What does french mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to France, its people, language, or culture.
2. nounThe Romance language spoken in France and many other countries.
3. verbTo cut food, especially meat or vegetables, into thin strips or to trim a rack of meat down to the bone.

French in a sentence

• adjective

  The french countryside is famous for its vineyards and cheese.

• noun

  He studied french for three years before moving to Paris.

• verb

  The recipe asked the cook to french the green beans before steaming them.

• adjective

  She ordered a french pastry and a strong coffee for breakfast.

• noun

  The menu was printed entirely in french with no translation.

• verb

  The butcher offered to french the rack of lamb so the bones were clean.

Where does french come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word goes back to the Old English frencisc, which simply meant 'of the Franks', the Germanic people who gave their name to France. The Franks were a powerful confederation who settled in Gaul, and their name is often linked to a word meaning 'free', since under Frankish rule full freedom belonged to the ruling people. Over time frencisc was smoothed down in pronunciation and spelling until it became the modern 'french', losing its older -isc ending in the same way that 'English' kept it but 'french' did not. By the medieval period it referred specifically to the people, language, and culture of France rather than to the wider Frankish world. The same Frankish root survives in the word 'frank', meaning open and honest, and in the name 'Frankfurt', literally the ford of the Franks.

How the word is built

• Frank (the Germanic Frankish people)
• -ish (adjective suffix), via Old English frencisc