Ottawa

Borrowed from English Ottawa, ultimately from Ojibwe odaawaa (“traders”).

(by synecdoche, metonymic) the federal government of Canada


fleur

Haitian Creole: flè

Inherited from Old French flur, flour, flor, from Latin flōrem (“flower; the finest part of something”), from Proto-Italic *flōs, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-s (“flower, blossom”), from *bʰleh₃- (“to bloom”). In some senses, from Middle French fleur (“surface, upper side, top layer”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *flōraz (“floor”).

inh

Les orchidées sont des fleurs recherchées.

(metonymic) flowering plant; angiosperm; the plant with flowers itself


dans

Inherited from Old French denz, from Vulgar Latin dē intus, from Latin dē + intus, meaning "from inside" or "from within".

le marxisme dans Sartre


bistro

→ Brazilian Portuguese: bistrô

→ Danish: bistro

→ English: bistro

The etymology is unclear; it is presumed to come from a regional word: bistro, bistrot, bistingo, or bistraud, a word in the Poitou dialect which means a "lesser servant", or bistouille, bistrouille, a colloquial term from the northern area of France for a mixture of brandy and coffee, the kind of beverage that could be served at a bistro. The first recorded use of the word appears in 1884, the next in 1892 ("bistrot").
A popular folk etymology of the word claims that it originated among Russian troops who occupied Paris following the Napoleonic Wars. In taverns they would shout the Russian бы́стро (býstro, “quickly”) to the waiters, so that "bistro" took on the meaning of a place where food was served quickly. This etymology is rejected, due to the 69 year gap between the proposed origin and the first attestation.

(metonymic, France) proprietor of a bistro


cocktail

→ Vietnamese: cốc tai

Borrowed from English cocktail, which is of unclear origin.


Hollywood

Unadapted borrowing from English Hollywood.

ubor

(metonymic) Hollywood (the American motion picture industry, regardless of location)


transistor

Sur mon matelas / Je rêve à ton corps / Soûlé par la voix / De mon transistor

1982, “Un été sans toi”, performed by Charles Aznavour:

On my mattress / I dream of your body / Reeling from the voice / On my transistor


marmite

→ Catalan: marmita

→ English: marmite

→ Portuguese: marmita

→ Spanish: marmita

→ Greek: μαρμίτα (marmíta)

In Middle French (attested 1388) used in the sense of an earthen or metal cooking-pot; later (17th century) also of bombs or grenades from their resemblance to iron cooking-pots.
Earlier, the noun Old French marmite meant "hypocrite" (attested 1223); the semantic development is explained as the cooking-pot being covered and not revealing its interior (thus being "hypocritical", as compared to e.g. a cooking-pan or a plate).
The etymology of marmite "hypocrite" is explained as a compound of marmotter (“to mutter”) (from an onomatopoeic base mar- "murmur") and mite (“cat”) (an obsolete word for "cat", probably also onomatopoeic, i.e. imitative of meowing, extant only in the compound chattemite), and thus describing a person being evasive by "murmuring" or "meowing" instead of speaking plainly.

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

(metonymic) meal prepared in a cooking pot


esprit

→ Czech: esprit

→ English: esprit

→ Polish: spryt

→ Turkish: espri (“humor, joke”)

Inherited from Middle French esperit, from Old French, borrowed from Latin spiritus through Ecclesiastical Latin and Christian religious texts.

(metonymic) human being, as possessing abilities of mind


donne

la donne des cartes

(card games) distribution of cards; dealing of cards; (metonymic) the cards that one is given


Brazzaville

Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza
fr:Brazzaville

From Brazza + ville (“city”). Named after Italian-French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza (1852–1905), who officially founded the settlement in 1880 [from 1880].

named-after

Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo#English

(metonymic, politics) The government of the Republic of the Congo.


Matignon

From the Hôtel Matignon, the official residence of the Prime Minister of France.


Amérique

Haitian Creole: Amerik

United States of America
United States of America#English

États-Unis d'Amérique
États-Unis d'Amérique#French

(informal, by ellipsis, metonymic) America, United States of America (a country in North America; in full, États-Unis d'Amérique)


selle

Inherited from Middle French selle, from Old French sele, from Latin sella, from Proto-Italic *sedlā, from Proto-Indo-European *sed-.

(metonymic, chiefly in the plural) excrement (human or animal)


solfège

→ Bulgarian: солфеж (solfež)

→ English: solfège

→ Finnish: solfeesi

→ Galician: solfexo

→ Japanese: ソルフェージュ (sorufēju)

→ Korean: 솔페주 (solpeju)

→ Latvian: solfēža

→ Lithuanian: solfežas

→ Persian:

Iranian Persian: سلفژ (solfež)

→ Polish: solfeż

→ Portuguese: solfejo

→ Turkish: solfej

Prendre des cours de solfège.

(metonymic) music theory, the training and courses that come with it as well as one's knowledge of it


* (UEFA Intertoto Cup): From Coupe 4 (“Cup 4”), because was the four more important football competition in Europe, at the time of its creation.
* (UEFA Europa Conference League): Because the UEFA Champions League is called "C1" and the UEFA Europa League is called "C3" (it retains the name of "C3" despite the disappearance of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup which was called "C2") and the UEFA Europa Conference League is the third competition most important in Europe.

the defunct UEFA Intertoto Cup (1961-2008)

the UEFA Europa Conference League (2021-)


flambeau

→ Dutch: flambouw

→ Spanish: flambó

(metonymic) light, flame as symbolic spirit of something


Élysée

→ English: Élysée

→ Korean: 엘리제 (Ellije)

Borrowed from Latin Elysium n, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἠλῠ́σῐον n (Ēlŭ́sĭon).


culot

→ Catalan: culot m

Etymology tree
French cul
French -ot
French culot
From cul m + -ot m.

etymon

(metonymic) the last-come person, e.g. youngest child, worst loser in a competition


Maison Blanche

la Maison Blanche (canonical feminine)
Maison-Blanche (alternative)

(metonymic) White House (The United States government)


vaticane

(metonymic, relational) of the Holy See, of the papacy; papal


From Coupe 2 (“Cup 2”), because was the second more important football competition in Europe.

Coupe d'Europe des vainqueurs de coupe de football

the defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1960-1999)


From Coupe 1 (“Cup 1”), because is the more important football competition in Europe.


MacDo

Voilà ce qui se passe si on mange trop de MacDo.

That is what happens when one eats too much fast food.


hors-bord

(metonymic) speedboat, outboard (vessel fitted with an outboard motor)


commandement

First attested in the eleventh century as Old French comandement. By surface analysis, commander (“to order”) + -ment.

surf

poste de commandement

centre de commandement

commandement des forces interarmées

Le commandement en temps de guerre de la Corée du Sud avait été remis aux forces américaines après le déclenchement de la Guerre de Corée (1950-1953). La Corée du Sud a repris son contrôle opérationnel en temps de paix depuis 1994.

2021 March 8, “La Corée du Sud et les Etats-Unis entament leurs exercices militaires conjoints pendant l'épidémie de COVID-19”, in french.xinhua.net:

Wartime command over South Korean troops had been handed over to American forces upon the outbreak of the Korean War (1950-1953). South Korea has reassumed peacetime operational control since 1994.

(metonymic) authority, power to command, to give orders; command


cloporte

Likely from clore (“to close”) + porte (“door”), from its habit of rolling into a ball. Another possible derivation is from an unattested *croteporque, mirrored in Occitan porquet de crota (“woodlouse”, literally “cave-pig”). In any case, the analysis in the first proposal is probably responsible for the figurative extension of the word to "porter, concierge".


parpaing

Probably from Vulgar Latin *perpetaneus, from Latin perpes (“uninterrupted”), or from a root *perpedaneum, from pes (“foot”) (cf. pedaneus).

Mon père était tellement de gauche que quand est tombé le mur de Berlin
Il est parti chez Casto pour acheter des parpaings

2007 February 19, Les Fatals Picards, “Mon père était tellement de gauche”:

My father was so left-wing, that when the Berlin Wall fell
He went to Castorama to buy some perpends

(metonymic) breeze-block (building block)


tréteau

Inherited from Old French trestel, inherited from Late Latin trānstellum, diminutive of Latin trānstrum beam.

Et ensuite parce que le récit de cette carrière passée des plateaux de Marc Dorcel (célèbre producteur de films X) aux tréteaux d'Avignon, l'emporte sur tout autre centre d'intérêt.

2024 July 15, Romain Cantenot, “Ma nouvelle vie d'artiste : la joie des reconvertis du Festival”, in La Provence, page 5:

(in the plural, metonymic) stage, theater


friperie

→ English: frippery

From Old French freperie, feuperie (“old clothes, rags”), from frepe, feupe (“clothes, rags”), from Late Latin faluppa (“straw, fiber, chip”), which is possibly a loan from Celtic. By surface analysis, fripe + -erie.


From Coupe 1 (“Cup 1”), because was the third more important football competition in Europe, at the time of its creation. Since 2000 its it the second most important competition in Europe, after the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1960-1999) disappeared. Despite the demise of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the UEFA Europa League retains the C3 name.

the UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup (1971-2009))


gilet jaune

gilets jaunes (plural)
Gilet jaune (alternative)

→ English: gilet jaune, → yellow vest (calque), → yellow jacket (calque)

fr:gilet de haute visibilité
fr:mouvement des Gilets jaunes

(by extension, informal, metonymic) motorway patroller, who wears such a vest

For quotations using this term, see Citations:gilet jaune.

(by extension, France, metonymic) a member of a French protest movement which started in late 2018 against rising fuel prices; members of the movement wore such vests


Coronavirus Covid-19

2019 December 19, “Nouveau Coronavirus (Maladie: COVID-19, Virus: SARS-CoV-2)”, in sciensano:

Les données concernant l’utilisation des vaccins contre la Covid-19 en population particulière sont très peu nombreuses.

2021 February 5, “Mise en place d'un suivis des populations particulières”, in Covireivac:

There is little current data on the use of vaccines against COVID-19 within specific populations.


béret vert

(metonymic) A soldier wearing this beret.


Bercy

(France, metonymic) French ministry of economy and finance