French–English dictionary

lave

The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides; magma that has breached the surface of the earth.

lave-vaisselle

A machine for washing dishes.

lavement

To administer an enema.

laver le cerveau

(psychology) To affect one's mind by using extreme mental pressure or any other mind-affecting process. (e.g. hypnosis)

laverie

A place that has facilities for washing and drying clothes that the public may pay to use.

laverie automatique

A place that has facilities for washing and drying clothes that the public may pay to use.

laveur

A person who washes (especially clothes) for a living; a washerman or washerwoman.

laveuse

A person who washes (especially clothes) for a living; a washerman or washerwoman.

lavomatique

A place that has facilities for washing and drying clothes that the public may pay to use.

laxatif

Having the effect of moving the bowels, or aiding digestion and preventing constipation.

laxiste

Lax; not strict; tolerant of dissent or deviation.

lazariste

Of or pertaining to this order.

laze

A Kartvelian language of Turkey and Caucasian Georgia, related to Georgian, Mingrelian, and Svan.

Lc

(biblical) The Gospel of St. Luke, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the third of the four gospels.

Le

A surname.

le + comp., le + comp.

With a comparative or with more and a verb phrase, establishes a correlation with one or more other such comparatives.

le canton de Genève

A canton of Switzerland.

le feu

(slang) Amazing; excellent.

le jeudi

(US, Canada, informal in UK) On Thursday.

le leur

That or those belonging to them; the possessive case of they, used without a following noun.

le long de

Side by side with.

le métro londonien

(informal) The London Underground.

le moindre

The most little; the smallest amount or quantity of something.

le musée du Louvre

A famous art museum and former royal palace in Paris, France.

le nôtre

(colloquial, may seem patronising) That or those belonging to an individual being addressed; used especially to a person in the speaker's care, or to whom advice or instruction is being given.

le papa et la maman

(uncountable) A children's game in which the players pretend to be members of a household.

le plus

Forms the superlative of many adjectives.

le plus grand nombre

A multitude; a great aggregate; a mass of people; the generality; the common herd.

le plus petit

The most little; the smallest amount or quantity of something.

le plus vite possible

As soon as is possible; at one's earliest convenience; at the earliest possible time.

le Seigneur

(hence, with "his" or "your", often capitalised) Title applied to a lord, bishop, judge, or another man with a title.

le sien

That or those belonging to her; the possessive case of she, used without a following noun. [from 12th c.]

le Sonora

A state of Mexico.

le tien

(archaic, EME) Second-person singular possessive pronoun; yours.

le vôtre

That or those belonging to you; the possessive second-person singular pronoun used without a following noun.

leader

One having authority to direct.

leadership

The capacity of someone to lead others.

léchage

The act of licking; a stroke of the tongue.

lèche

(informal, vulgar) The practice of kissing ass; flattery; obsequious behavior.

lèche-bottes

(US, vulgar, slang) Someone who succumbs to authority, doing whatever authority figures ask and attempting to please them in every possible way; (by extension) any contemptible person.

lèche-cul

(US, vulgar, slang) Someone who succumbs to authority, doing whatever authority figures ask and attempting to please them in every possible way; (by extension) any contemptible person.

lèche-culterie

The fawning behavior of a sycophant; servile flattery; fawningness.

leçon

A story, originally told in folklore, to warn its audience of a certain danger.

lecteur

(computer hardware) A mass storage device in which the mechanism for reading and writing data is integrated with the mechanism for storing data.

lecteur-correcteur

Someone who corrects printed material (copy) and prepares it for typesetting, printing, or online publishing.

lectorat

The readership of a book or other written publication. [from 19th c.]

lectrice

A person who reads a publication.

lecture

A section of the Bible or other religious text read as part of a divine service.

lecture de l'acte d'accusation

(legal) The formal charging of a defendant with an offense; in many jurisdictions it includes their response in the form of a plea, typically as guilty, not guilty, or no contest.

LED

Initialism of light-emitting diode.

Léda

(astronomy) 38 Leda, a main belt asteroid; not to be confused with the Jovian moon.

ledit

(uncountable) The one or ones mentioned previously.

légal

Relating to the use of science and technology in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence in a court of law.

légalement

According to what is right, or what one is legally or morally entitled to; justly, properly, rightfully.

légaliser

To make legal or permit under law. Either by decriminalising something that has been illegal or by specifically permitting it.

légalité

Lawfulness.

légataire

(legal) One who receives a legacy (inheritance).

légation

A diplomatic mission.

legato

(music) The symbol indicating a legato passage, written as an arc over the slurred notes (not to be confused with a tie).

légendaire

Of or pertaining to a legend or to legends.

légende

A title or brief explanation attached to an illustration, cartoon, user interface element, etc.

légender

To add captions to a text or illustration.

léger

(figuratively) Lighthearted and lively.

légèrement

In a light manner.

légèrement bleu

Having a tint or hue similar to the colour blue.

légèreté

A lightness of manner or speech, frivolity; flippancy; a lack of appropriate seriousness; an inclination to make a joke of serious matters.

légion

(military, Ancient Rome) The major unit or division of the Roman army, usually comprising 3000 to 6000 infantry soldiers and 100 to 200 cavalry troops.

légionnaire

A member of a legion, such as the American Legion, or of any organization containing the term legion in its title (e.g. the French Foreign Legion).

législateur

Someone who creates or enacts laws.

législatif

Making, or having the power to make, a law or laws; lawmaking.

législation

The act of legislating; preparation and enactment of laws.

législatrice

Someone who creates or enacts laws.

légitime

By right; by law.

légitimement

According to what is right, or what one is legally or morally entitled to; justly, properly, rightfully.

légitimer

(transitive) To make legitimate.

légitimiser

(transitive) To make legitimate.

légitimité

The quality or state of being legitimate or valid; validity.

Lego

Any of several small, coloured, plastic bricks, often made by the Lego Company, that can be made to join together and be taken apart, used to construct toy buildings, vehicles, etc.

Legrand

(countable) A surname.

legs

A person's inheritance; an amount of property given by will.

léguer

(legal) To give or leave by will; to give by testament.

légume

(idiom) A person who spends a lot of time sitting or lying down, often watching television, eating snacks or drinking alcohol. [from 1976]

légumes verts

Green vegetables; edible plants or plant parts that contain chlorophyll.

légumier

Of or relating to vegetables.

légumineuse

(botany) Any of a large family (Fabaceae, syn. Leguminosae) of dicotyledonous herbs, shrubs, and trees having fruits that are legumes or loments, bearing nodules on the roots that contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and including important food and forage plants (as peas, beans, or clovers).

Leipzig

An independent city in Saxony, Germany.

leitmotiv

(music) A melodic theme associated with a particular character, place, thing or idea in an opera.

lemming

A small arctic and subarctic rodent of the tribes Lemmini, Dicrostonychini and Lagurini.

lémur

Any of the genus Lemur, represented by the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta).

lémurien

Any of the genus Lemur, represented by the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta).

Lémuries

(historical) A religious feast of Ancient Rome during which rites were performed to exorcise the malevolent ghosts of the dead from their homes.

lendemain

the next day.

Lénine

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, a Russian revolutionary and politician.

Léningrad

(historical) Former name of Saint Petersburg: a major city in Russia, from the time of Lenin's death in 1924 until 1991.

léniniste

Of or relating to Leninism.

lent

Inert, lumbering, slow in movement.

lente

The egg of a louse.

lentement

In a leisurely manner.

lenteur

The quality or state of being slow.

lentille

(informal) A contact lens.

Léo

A en given name, borne by numerous saints and 14 popes.

Léon

A en given name, borne by numerous saints and 14 popes.

Léonard

A surname transferred from the given name.

léopard

Panthera pardus, a large wild cat with a spotted coat native to Africa and Asia, especially the male of the species (in contrast to leopardess).

Léopold

A en given name. Used in the 19th century but rare today.

Lepage

A placename in the United States:

leprechaun

(Irish folklore) One of a race of elves that can reveal hidden treasure to those who catch them.

lépreux

A person who has leprosy, a person suffering from Hansen's disease.

lépricone

(Irish folklore) One of a race of elves that can reveal hidden treasure to those who catch them.

léprosé

A person who has leprosy, a person suffering from Hansen's disease.

lequel

(relative, formal, _, outside certain phrases) Designates the one(s) previously mentioned.

les

The definite grammatical article that shows that the noun phrase that immediately follows it is definitely identifiable...

les avantages

An advantage of something, especially when contrasted with its disadvantages (cons).

les briser

(transitive) To pester; to annoy persistently; to press.

les deux

Each of the two; one and the other; referring to two individuals or items.

les états de l'est des [[États-Unis]]

The eastern states of the United States.

les fesses à l'air

Not wearing clothes below the waist; particularly not wearing clothes that would cover the genitalia.

les îles Hawaï

(specifically) An island of Hawaii archipelago, Pacific Ocean, of Hawaii County, State of Hawaii, United States. The largest of the Hawaiian Islands.

les jeunes

(uncountable, used as plural or singular) Young persons, collectively.

les leurs

That or those belonging to them; the possessive case of they, used without a following noun.

les Lumières

(history) A 17th- and 18th-century European intellectual movement emphasizing rationalism. The period during which it flourished is called the Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason.

les nôtres

(colloquial, may seem patronising) That or those belonging to an individual being addressed; used especially to a person in the speaker's care, or to whom advice or instruction is being given.

les plus

Forms the superlative of many adjectives.

les pours

An advantage of something, especially when contrasted with its disadvantages (cons).

les rênes

(figuratively) Anything that covers or conceals something else; a cloak. [from 9th c.]

les siennes

That or those belonging to her; the possessive case of she, used without a following noun. [from 12th c.]

les siens

That or those belonging to her; the possessive case of she, used without a following noun. [from 12th c.]

les sourds

Unable (or partially able) to hear.

les temps forts

Summary of an event, such as a sporting event, focussing on the most entertaining or consequential aspects; compilation of each highlight of that event

les tiennes

(archaic, EME) Second-person singular possessive pronoun; yours.

les tiens

(archaic, EME) Second-person singular possessive pronoun; yours.

les uns les autres

(reciprocal pronoun) To one another; one to the other; signifies that a verb applies to two or more entities both as subjects and as direct objects:

lesbien

Of or pertaining to the island of Lesbos.

Lesbienne

(linguistics, uncountable) The variety of Aeolic Greek spoken on Lesbos from about 800 to 300 b.c., best known from the writings of Sappho and Alcaeus of Mytilene.

léser

To deprive of some right, or to withhold some act of justice.

lésiner

To make insufficient allowance for; to scant; to scrimp.

lésion

(criminal, _, legal) An injury to a person by which the skin is divided or its continuity broken.

lesquelles

(relative, formal, _, outside certain phrases) Designates the one(s) previously mentioned.

lesquels

(relative, formal, _, outside certain phrases) Designates the one(s) previously mentioned.

lessive

Any non-soap cleaning agent, especially a synthetic surfactant.

lessiver

(transitive) To purge a soluble matter out of something by the action of a percolating fluid.

lest

(nautical) Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship (or in the gondola of a balloon), to provide stability.

leste

Lacking restraint, or ignoring societal standards, particularly in sexual conduct; sexually unprincipled.

lester

(transitive) To add weight to something; to make something heavier.

létal

Causing death; lethal.

léthal

Of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; mortal; fatal.

léthargie

A state of extreme torpor, sopor or apathy, especially with lack of emotion, energy or enthusiasm; (loosely) sluggishness, laziness. [from 14th c.]

Léthé

(Greek mythology) The personification of oblivion, daughter of Eris.

Léto

(uncountable, Greek goddess) Leto, in Greek mythology, the mother of Apollo and Artemis.

lette

(uncountable) The official language of Latvia; Lettish.