Glossary of French words and expressions in English
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; [[wikt:au revoir|au revoir]]!: "See you later!" In French, a contraction of ''Au plaisir de vous revoir'' ('to the pleasure of seeing you again'). |
; [[wikt:au revoir|au revoir]]!: "See you later!" In French, a contraction of ''Au plaisir de vous revoir'' ('to the pleasure of seeing you again'). |
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; [[au sec]] :lit. "almost dry", reducing liquid to the point of almost being dry though the food is still moist. |
; [[au sec]] :lit. "almost dry", reducing liquid to the point of almost being dry though the food is still moist. |
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; [[avant-garde]] (pl. ''avant-gardes''): applied to cutting-edge or radically innovative movements in art, music and literature; figuratively 'on the edge', literally, a military term, meaning 'vanguard' (which is a corruption of ''avant-garde'') or "advance guard", in other words, "first to attack" (antonym of ''arrière-garde''). |
; {{Anchor|avant-garde}}[[avant-garde]] (pl. ''avant-gardes''): applied to cutting-edge or radically innovative movements in art, music and literature; figuratively 'on the edge', literally, a military term, meaning 'vanguard' (which is a corruption of ''avant-garde'') or "advance guard", in other words, "first to attack" (antonym of '''''arrière-garde'''''). |
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; {{anchor|Avant la lettre}}avant la lettre: used to describe something or someone seen as a forerunner of something (such as an artistic or political movement) before that thing was recognized and named, e.g., "a post-modernist avant la lettre", "a feminist avant la lettre". The expression literally means "before the letter", i.e., "before it had a name".{{cite web |title=Definition of AVANT LA LETTRE |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avant%20la%20lettre |website=www.merriam-webster.com |publisher=Merriam Webster |access-date=9 March 2026 |language=en}} An alternative modern French version of this expression is ''avant l'heure''. |
; {{anchor|Avant la lettre}}avant la lettre: used to describe something or someone seen as a forerunner of something (such as an artistic or political movement) before that thing was recognized and named, e.g., "a post-modernist avant la lettre", "a feminist avant la lettre". The expression literally means "before the letter", i.e., "before it had a name".{{cite web |title=Definition of AVANT LA LETTRE |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avant%20la%20lettre |website=www.merriam-webster.com |publisher=Merriam Webster |access-date=9 March 2026 |language=en}} An alternative modern French version of this expression is ''avant l'heure''. |
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; [[avoirdupois]]: used in Middle English, ''avoir de pois'' = commodities sold by weight, alteration of Old French ''aveir de peis'' = "goods of weight". In Modern French, only used to refer to English weight measures, as in ''une livre avoirdupois'' (1 lb. avdp) as opposed to ''une livre troy'' (1 lb. troy). |
; [[avoirdupois]]: used in Middle English, ''avoir de pois'' = commodities sold by weight, alteration of Old French ''aveir de peis'' = "goods of weight". In Modern French, only used to refer to English weight measures, as in ''une livre avoirdupois'' (1 lb. avdp) as opposed to ''une livre troy'' (1 lb. troy). |
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