French

She speaks French.

Ne mowe we alle Latin wite...
Ne French...

c. 1390, Robert Grosseteste, translating Chateau d'Amour as The Castle of Love, ll. 25 ff.

I... wolde also be bolde in such french as is peculiare to the lawys of this realme, to leue it wyth them in wrytynge to.

1533, Thomas More, The Debellacyon of Salem & Bizance, fol. 96

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:

(chiefly uncountable) The language of France, shared by the neighboring countries Belgium, Monaco, and Switzerland and by former French colonies around the world.

My French is a little rusty.

[Racine's] language is the language of the times, and that of the purest sort; so that his French is reckoned a standard.

1742 April 4, R. West, letter to Thomas Gray

(uncountable) The ability of a person to communicate in French.

I'm taking French next semester.

(uncountable) French language and literature as an object of study.

Pardon my French.

The enraged headsman spares no 'bad French' in explaining his motives.

1845, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, Adventure in New Zealand, volume I, page 327:

Cameron: Pardon my French, but you're an asshole!

1986, John Hughes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off'

The book... is a welcome change from theory-infected academic discourse, pardon my French.

2005 May 29, New York Times Book Review, page 12:

(uncountable, euphemistic, now often ironic) Vulgar language.

Dawn French.

en-prop

French (countable and uncountable, plural Frenches)

desc

⇒ American Sign Language: 9@InsideNeckhigh-PalmDown 9@SideNeckhigh-PalmUp

→ Choctaw: Filanchi

→ Punjabi: ਫ਼੍ਰੈਂਚ (fraiñc)

→ Zulu: isiFulentshi

Frans

principal language of France and other related countries

lingua Francogallica (lingua francogallica f)

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.

gl

"Frankish, Franconian; > German <i class="Latn mention" lang="de">fränkisch</i> (“Frankish, Franconian”)


French

The Hundred Years' War was fought between the English and the French.

Under the Fourth Republic, more and more French unionized.

[…]to breake the necke of the wicked purposes & plots of the French[…]

1579, Francesco Guicciardini as, translated by Geoffrey Fenton, The Historie of Guicciardin, page 378:

Such is the nature and complexion of the frenches, that they are worth nothing, but at the first push.

1653, François Rabelais, translated by Thomas Urquhart, Works of Mr. Francis Rabelais, volume I, page 214:

On the way, scouts reported that some French were heading toward them across the ice.

2002, Jeremy Thornton, The French and Indian War, page 14:

While the concept of remigration has long existed in academia, its hijacking by the far right on social media appears to have begun about a decade ago when French adherents to identitarianism, an ethno-nationalist movement, organised what they described as the inaugural meeting in Paris on remigration.

2024 October 3, Ashifa Kassam, “How remigration became a buzzword for global far right”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly collective and in the plural) The people of France; groups of French people.

French--^([sic]) to do the French--Cocksucking; and, inversely, to tongue a woman.

1916, Henry Nathaniel Cary, The Slang of Venery and Its Analogues, volume I, page 94:

You can be whipped or caned... or you can have French for another pound.

Always use condoms with Greek (anal intercourse), straight sex (vaginal intercourse, fucking), French (oral sex).

‘French’—still used by prostitutes as a term for oral sex.

(uncountable, dated slang, sex) Synonym of oral sex, especially fellatio.

Tearle replied that gin-and-French and virginian cigarettes would do for him.

1930, Ethel Mannin, Confessions & Impressions, page 177:

He was drinking double gins with single Frenches in them.

1967, Michael Francis Gilbert, The Dust & the Heat, page 14:

(chiefly uncountable, dated slang) Ellipsis of French vermouth, a type of dry vermouth.

en-noun

French (countable and uncountable, plural French or Frenches)

→ Zulu: iFulentshi


French

the French border with Italy

That must have hurt, especially because you knew the French children weren’t even trying. “Uh, go on, play weez your seellee nambeurs. Zey tell you nosseeng of ze true naytcheur of ze soula. I’ll weepa for you.”

2015 May 3, “Standardized Testing”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 2, episode 12, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:

French customs

Of or relating to the people or culture of France.

French verbs

Coordinate term: straight

French active

French girl

She was a tall redhead, with a shape that would make you jump for joy and a reputation as the best French girl in the place.

1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Not too Far Tangent”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 23:

(slang, sexuality) Of or related to oral sex, especially fellatio.

French disease

French crown

French pox

venereal disease
venereal disease#English

(informal, often euphemistic) Used to form names or references to venereal diseases.

French curve

drafting template having edges of various curvatures

French cut

French fries

French kiss

French manicure

French window or French door

double wooden windows or doors crafted with panes of glass

French refrigerator

continuous refrigerator space on top accessed by two doors, with a freezer drawer below

French polish

French inhale

act of expelling cigarette smoke from the mouth and simultaneously inhaling it through the nose

French exit or French leave

hasty exit made without saying farewells to anybody

French toast

Food prepared by dipping bread into egg batter and frying

Used to form names or references to an unconventional or fancy style.

en-adj

French (comparative more French or Frencher, superlative most French or Frenchest)

more French (comparative)
Frencher (comparative)
most French (superlative)
Frenchest (superlative)

→ Choctaw: Filanchi

→ Tamil: பிரஞ்சு (pirañcu)


French

Even before I thought about what I was doing we Frenched and kissed with tongues.

1995, Jack Womack, Random Acts of Senseless Violence, page 87:

en-verb

French (third-person singular simple present Frenches, present participle Frenching, simple past and past participle Frenched)

Frenches (present singular third-person)
Frenching (participle present)
Frenched (participle past)
Frenched (past)
french (alternative)