List of English words of French origin

Most of the French vocabulary now appearing in English was borrowed in the centuries following the Norman Conquest of 1066, when England came under the rule of Norman-speaking peoples. After William the Conqueror had invaded England, subsequent rulers invaded other parts of the British Isles, distributing lands and property to Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French soldiers. As a result, Old French became the language of high culture and government. With time, it evolved into Anglo-Norman French, a language widely used by the nobility and for legal affairs (See Law French). The use of French and Norman in the kingdom was "extremely important" from William the Conqueror's coronation in 1066 until 1260. Words of French origin often refer to more abstract or generalized concepts than their Old English equivalents (e.g. liberty/freedom, justice/fairness, source/spring, vision/sight, sentiment/feeling); they are therefore less frequently used in everyday language. However, this is not true for all English words of French origin. Consider, for example, some of the most common words in English: able, car, chair, city, country, different, fact, fine, fruit, group, journey, juice, just, large, move, part, people, person, place, point, problem, public, push, real, remain, stay, table, travel, use, very, and wait. After Henry Plantagenet ascended the throne of England, other French dialects gained influence at the expense of Anglo-Norman, notably the Angevin dialect from whence the House of Plantagenet came, and possibly Poitevin, the tongue of Eleanor of Aquitaine. The motto of the British monarchy was proclaimed in French as "". The aristocracy ruled England using French, which was considered "the language of an elite", until 1260. After 1260, English merchants and jurists began to speak French. Between 1260 and 1400, everyday and popular language adopted words borrowed from French. With the English claim to the throne of France, the influence of courtly French of Paris increased. French cultural influence remained strong in the following centuries. From the Renaissance onwards, most borrowings were from Parisian French, which had become the de facto standard language of France. Le Devoirs wrote, "Many English words were borrowed from Old French, but also from Norman". noted, "More than a third of English vocabulary is indeed of French origin." Modern-day older Norman-speaking people in Normandy recognise English words as Norman. Linguist said, "All of the sustained vocabulary of English or almost, belongs to the French language", adding, "International English comes from French." Reflecting on the globalised dimension of English, he said that "English was able to dethrone French by first plundering French". == Notable fields of French influence ==

Feudalism Norman rule of England had a lasting impact on British society. Words from Anglo-Norman or Old French include terms related to chivalry (homage, liege, peasant, seigniorage, suzerain, vassal, villain) and other institutions (bailiff, chancellor, council, government, mayor, minister, parliament), the organisation of religion (abbey, clergy, cloister, diocese, friar, mass, parish, prayer, preach, priest, sacristy, vestment, vestry, vicar), the nobility (baron, count, dame, duke, marquis, prince, sir), and the art of war (armour, baldric, dungeon, hauberk, mail, portcullis, rampart, surcoat). Many of these words related to the feudal system or medieval warfare have a Germanic origin (mainly through Old Frankish) (see also French words of Germanic origin). The Norman origin of the British monarchy is visible in expressions like Prince Regent, heir apparent, Princess Royal in which the adjective goes after the noun, as in French. All British noble vocabulary such as "baron, count, monarch, monarchy, noble, prince, regent, royal, sire, sovereign, throne, vassal" is borrowed from French. Heraldry The vocabulary of heraldry has been heavily influenced by French (blazon, or, argent, sable, gules, passant), for more details see tinctures, attitudes, and charges of heraldry. Sometimes used in heraldry, some mythological beasts (cockatrice, dragon, griffin, hippogriff, phoenix, wyvern) and exotic animals (lion, leopard, antelope, gazelle, giraffe, camel, zebu, elephant, baboon, macaque, mouflon, dolphin, ocelot, ostrich, toucan, chameleon) draw their name from French. This is also true for some animals native to Europe (via Anglo-Norman: buzzard, coney, cormorant, eagle, egret, falcon, ferret, heron, leveret, lizard, marten, plover, rabbit, salmon, squirrel, viper). Military The vocabulary of warfare and the military includes many words and expressions of French origin (accoutrements, aide-de-camp, army, artillery, battalion, bivouac, boyau, brigade, camouflage, carabineer, cavalry, cordon sanitaire, corps, corvette, dragoon, espionage, esprit de corps, état major, fusilier, grenadier, guard, hors-de-combat, infantry, latrine, legionnaire, logistics, matériel, marine, morale, musketeer, officer, pistol, platoon, reconnaissance/reconnoitre, regiment, rendezvous, siege, soldier, sortie, squad, squadron, surrender, surveillance, terrain, troop, volley). This includes military ranks: admiral, captain, colonel, corporal, general, lieutenant, sergeant. Many fencing terms are also from French. Politics and economics The political/economic lexicon includes many words of French origin such as money, treasury, exchequer, commerce, finance, tax, liberalism, capitalism, materialism, nationalism, plebiscite, coup d'état, regime, sovereignty, state, administration, federal, bureaucracy, constitution, jurisdiction, district. Several terms for trades and professions are from Anglo-Norman French: barber, butcher, carpenter, draper, grocer, mariner, mason, mercer, merchant, scrivener, surgeon and tailor. Law The judicial lexicon has been heavily influenced by French (justice, judge, jury, attorney, court, case) and terms related to law enforcement (arraign, arrest, detention, constable, marshal, officer, police, prison, jail). Diplomacy attaché, chargé d'affaires, envoy, embassy, chancery, diplomacy, démarche, communiqué, aide-mémoire, détente, entente, rapprochement, accord, treaty, alliance, passport, protocol. Arts art, music, dance, theatre, author, stage, paint, canvas, perform, harmony, melody, rhythm, trumpet, note, director, gallery, portrait, brush, pallet, montage, surrealism, impressionism, fauvism, cubism, symbolism, art nouveau, gouache, aquarelle, collage, render, frieze, grisaille. Architecture aisle, arcade, arch, vault, voussoir, belfry, arc-boutant, buttress, bay, lintel, estrade, facade, balustrade, terrace, lunette, niche, pavilion, pilaster, porte cochère. Aviation and automobiles France played a pioneering role in the fields of aviation (nacelle, empennage, fuselage, fenestron, aileron, altimeter, canard, decalage, monocoque, turbine) and automobile engineering or design (chassis, piston, arbor, grille, tonneau, berline, sedan, limousine, cabriolet, coupé, convertible). Cuisine baba au rhum, beef, beef bourguignon, boudin, caramel, casserole, cassoulet, chowder, clafoutis, confit, consommé, cream, croissant, custard, filet mignon, fillet, foie gras, flognarde, fondant, fondue, gateau, gratin, madeleine, marmalade, mayonnaise, meringue, mille-feuille, mustard, mutton, navarin, pâté, pastry, petit four, pork, porridge, potage, pudding, puree, ragout, ratatouille, roux, salad, sauce, sausage, soufflé, soup, stew, terrine, trifle, veal, venison, vol-au-vent. Colours, the natural world and measurements Other borrowings include the names of colours (ecru, mauve, beige, carmine, maroon, blue, orange, violet, vermilion, turquoise, lilac, perse, russet, scarlet, cerise), the natural world (animal, insect, mineral, plant, herb, flower, fruit, vegetable, mushroom), vegetables and fruits (apricot, aubergine, cabbage, carrot, cherry, chestnut, citron, clementine, courgette, cucumber, currant, grape, haricot, lemon, lentil, mandarin, melon, onion, orange, parsley, peach, pumpkin, quince, spinach), measurements (metre, hectare, litre, gram, ounce, hour, minute, second, decade, dozen, million), and months of the year (January, March, May, July, November, December). Terms coined by French people Some of the French words that made their way into the English language were coined by French speaking inventors, pioneers or scientists: cinema, television, helicopter, parachute, harmonium, bathyscaphe, lactose, lecithin, bacteriophage, chlorophyll, mastodon, pterodactyl, oxide, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, photography, stethoscope, thermometer, stratosphere, troposphere. Named after French people Some English words come from the French surnames of famous people, especially in the fields of science (ampere, appertisation, baud, becquerel, braille, coulomb, curie, daguerreotype, pascal, pasteurise, vernier), botany and mineralogy (begonia, bougainvillea, clementine, magnolia, dolomite, nicotine), fashion and other cultural aspects (chauvinism, guillotine, kir, lavalier, leotard, mansard, praline, recamier, saxophone, silhouette, strass). Proper names The names of some cities in non-francophone areas came into English with French spelling (Louisville, Constance, Ypres, Bruges, Louvain, Turin, Milan, Plaisance, Florence, Rome, Naples, Syracuse, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, Seville, Constantinople). In North America, the names of some of the Native American peoples and First Nations who the French were in contact with first are from French (Sioux, Saulteaux, Iroquois, Nez Perce, Huron, Cheyenne, Algonquin). Many place names also came into English via French, such as Canada, Arkansas, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Vermont, Baton Rouge, Boise, Chicago, Des Moines, Detroit. == Main patterns of influence ==

Old French had a "gw" sound, which mainly occurred in borrowings from old Germanic languages such as Frankish and Burgundian. In Parisian and other Langue d'oïl dialects, the "w" was elided, leaving "g". Conversely, in northern dialects such as Picard and Norman, the "g" was elided, leaving "w". Compare for instance the northern Old French "werre" (hence English "war") and central Old French "guerre", both from the same Frankish word. The northern French dialects (north of the Joret line) also retained the "c" (pronounced "k") where in other Langue d’oïl dialects it would become "ch" (pronounced "tsh", and later "sh"). Compare for instance "cat" and "chat", both from Latin "cattus". And where the northern dialects would have "ch", it was "s" in the other dialects of French. Compare for instance "cherise" (hence English "cherry") and "cerise". After the Norman Conquest, it was the Norman variety of French that took root in England. However, in several cases, the central French version has subsequently been borrowed as well, leading to doublets such as catch and chase, warden and guardian, warrranty and guaranty. Some Old French words have been reborrowed during the Middle French or Modern French periods, generally with a more restrictive or specialised meaning. Consider for instance these doublets : alley/allée, chair/chaise, chief/chef, cream/crème, dungeon/donjon, feast/fete, luminary/luminaire, liquor/liqueur, lodge/loge, castle/château, hostel/hotel, mask/masque, necessary/nécessaire, periwig/peruke, petty/petit, saloon/salon, ticket/etiquette, troop/troupe, vanguard/avant-garde. Note that the word in French has retained the general meaning: e.g. château in French means "castle" and chef means "chief". In fact, loanwords from French generally have a more restricted or specialised meaning than in the original language, e.g. legume (in Fr. légume means "vegetable"), gateau (in Fr. gâteau means "cake"). Note that this is also generally the case with French words borrowed from English (in Fr. cake refers to the English-style fruitcake). Borrowings contributed to expand the list of false friends between English and French. In some cases, English has been more conservative than French with Old French words, at least in the spelling: e.g. apostle (O.Fr. apostle / M.Fr. apôtre), castle (O.Fr. castel or chastel / M.Fr. château), forest (O.Fr. forest / M.Fr. forêt), vessel (O.Fr. vaissel / M.Fr. vaisseau). Other Old French words have even disappeared from Modern French, e.g. dandelion. On the other hand, a move to restore classical word roots (Latin or Ancient Greek), occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries; many words from Old French had their spelling re-Latinized. While this did not generally affect their pronunciation (e.g. debt, doubt, indict/indictment, mayor), in some cases it did (e.g. abnormal, adventure, benefit). In words of Greek origin, f was replaced by the older ph digraph. Hence fantosme became phantom, fesan became pheasant. This also occurred in French, though less systematically: Old French farmacie became pharmacie ("pharmacy"), fenix became phénix ("phoenix"), but fantosme became fantôme ("phantom, ghost") and fesan became faisan ("pheasant"). Beside re-Latinization that blurred the French origin of some words (e.g. foliage, peradventure), other spelling changes have included alterations due to folk etymology (e.g. andiron, belfry, crayfish, cutlet, delight, female, furbelow, gillyflower, gingerbread, penthouse, pickaxe, pulley). The spelling of some words was changed to keep the pronunciation as close to the original as possible (e.g. leaven). In other cases, the French spelling was kept, leading to a totally different pronunciation than in French (e.g. leopard, levee). More recent borrowings from French have kept their original spelling and a more or less close approximation their original pronunciation: (e.g. ambiance, aplomb, arbitrage, armoire, atelier, barrage, bizarre, bonhomie, bourgeoisie, brochure, bureau, café, camaraderie, cartilage, catalogue, chandelier, chauffeur, coiffure, collage, console, contour, cortège, couturier, crèche, critique, debris, décor, dénouement, depot, detour, dossier, echelon, élite, ennui, entourage, entrepreneur, envelope, espionage, expertise, exposé, fatigue, financier, garage, genre, glacier, impasse, intrigue, liaison, lingerie, macabre, machine, marquise, massage, matinée, menagerie, métier, millionaire, mirage, montage, nuance, panache, parti pris, penchant, personnel, plaque, prestige, programme, promenade, provenance, raconteur, rapport, rapporteur, repertoire, reservoir, ricochet, riposte, routine, sabotage, sachet, sardine, souvenir, tableau, terrain, tourniquet, trait, tranche and vignette). However, this may change with time, e.g. the initial h in hotel is not silent anymore, consider also the variant pronunciations of herb and garage. Meanwhile, expressions such as femme fatale, faux pas, haute couture, bête noire and enfant terrible are still recognisably French. Borrowing is not a one-way process (See Reborrowing). Some words of French origin ultimately come from Old English (Anglo-Saxon words): e.g. bateau, chiffon, gourmet, or Middle English: e.g. lingot. Conversely, some English words of French origin have made their way "back" into Modern French: badge, budget, cash, catch, challenge, design, discount, establishment, express, fuel, gay, gin, humour, interview, jury, magazine, management, mess, nurse, pedigree, pellet, performance, punch, rave, record, reporter, scout, spleen, sport, squat, standard, suspense, tennis, ticket, toast, toboggan, tunnel, vintage and volley. == A–C ==