frances English
Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl) Franceise, feminine form of Franceis, from .
Proper noun
( en proper noun)
, feminine form of Francis.
* c.1590 William Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost : Act III, Scene I:
- Armado . Sirrah Costard, I will enfranchise thee.
- Costard''. O! marry me to one Frances : I smell some ''l'envoy , some goose, in this.
* 1883 , Heart and Science , Chatto and Windus, page 227:
- "My name is Frances'. Don't call me Fanny!" "Why not?" "Because it's too absurd to be endured! What does the mere sound of Fanny suggest? A flirting dancing creature - plump and fair, and playful and pretty! - - - Call me ' Frances - a man's name, with only the difference between an i and an e. No sentiment in it, hard, like me."
* 1961 , Owls Do Cry , ISBN 072510029X, page 97:
- My other sisters had interesting names. There was Francie, that was Frances , and though she wore slacks and my father seemed angry with her, I thought she was some relation to Saint Francis, who, I believed, kept animals in his pocket and took them out and licked them, the way Francie licked a blackball or acid drop, for pure love.
Related terms
* (variants) Francesca, Francine
* (pet forms) Fannie, Fanny, Fran, Francie, Frannie, Franny
Etymology 2
Proper noun
( head)
* 1967 , Eric A. Nordlinger, The Working-class Tories , page 236:
- The malaise of French politics has commonly been interpreted as a product of a deep-seated conflict between the ‘two Frances ’.
* 1998 , Shanny Peer, France on Display: Peasants, Provincials, and Folklore (ISBN 0791437108), page 2:
- Although scholars have offered different chronologies and causalities for the move toward modernity, most have resolved the paradox of the two Frances by placing them in sequence: "diverse France gave way over time as modern centralized France gathered force."
* 2013 , Making Sense of the Secular: Critical Perspectives (ISBN 1136277218), page 48:
- Was it the end of the long conflict between the two Frances ? Yes and no.
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french Proper noun
( en proper noun)
A Romance language spoken primarily in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, Valle d'Aosta and many former French colonies.
* 1997 , Albert Valdman, French and Creole in Louisiana , page 29
- Almost three quarters of the population 65 and older reported speaking French .
* 2004 , Jack Flam, Matisse and Picasso: The Story of Their Rivalry and Friendship , page 18
- 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.
(surname)
Noun
People of France, collectively.
- The French and the English have often been at war.
* 2002 , Jeremy Thornton, The French and Indian War , page 14
- On the way, scouts reported that some French were heading toward them across the ice.
(informal) Vulgar language.
- Pardon my French .
Usage notes
When used to refer collectively to people of France, the word French is preceded by the definite article or some other determiner.
Derived terms
* pardon my French
Adjective
( en adjective)
Of or relating to France.
- the French border with Italy
Of or relating to the people or culture of France.
- French customs
Of or relating to the .
- French verbs
Derived terms
* French bean, french bean
* French berry
* French braid
* French bread
* French-Canadian
* French casement
* French chalk
* French corner
* French cowslip
* French curl
* French curve
* French-cut
* French defence, French defense
* French dip
* French door
* French dressing, french dressing
* French Equatorial Africa
* French fact
* French fake
* French fits
* French fries, french fries
* French grey
* French grip
* French Guiana
* French Guinea
* French harp
* French honeysuckle
* French horn
* French India
* French Indochina
* French kiss
* French knickers
* French knot
* French lavender
* French letter
* French lilac
* French loaf
* French lock
* French Louisiana
* French maid
* Frenchman
* French Morocco
* French mulberry
* French mullet
* French mustard
* French onion soup
* French pancake
* French paradox
* French pie
* French plait
* French polish
* French Polynesia
* French pox
* French purple
* French Quarter
* French red
* French Republican Calendar, French Revolutionary Calendar
* French rice
* French Riviera
* French roast
* French roll
* French roof
* French rose
* French rye
* French sash
* French seam
* French Somaliland
* French sorrel
* French Southern and Antarctic Lands
* French spacing
* French spinach
* French stick
* French-style
* French Sudan
* French tickler
* French toast, french toast
* French Togoland
* French trumpet
* French tub
*
* French twist
* French vanilla
* French West Africa
* French window, french window
* French wire
* Frenchwoman
* take French leave
Verb
( es)
To kiss (another person) while inserting one’s tongue into the other person's mouth.
* 1988 , Wanda Coleman, A War of Eyes and other stories , page 151
- Tom frenched her full in the mouth.
To kiss in this manner.
* 1995 , Jack Womack, Random Acts of Senseless Violence , page 87
- Even before I thought about what I was doing we Frenched and kissed with tongues.
Alternative forms
* french
Synonyms
* French kiss
See also
* Franco-
* Gallic
Statistics
*
External links
*
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