French–English dictionary

méthode Hepburn

A system of romanization of Japanese, short for "Hepburn romanization".

méthodique

In an organized manner; proceeding with regard to method; systematic.

méthodiquement

In a methodical manner; with order.

méthodiste

Of or pertaining to the branch of Christianity that descends from the religious societies overseen by John Wesley (1703–1791) among others.

méthodologique

Of, pertaining to, or using methodology or a methodology.

méthyl-

(organic chemistry) Used to form terms describing the attachment of a methyl group

méthyle

(organic compound) The univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3-, formally derived from methane by the loss of a hydrogen atom; a compound or part of a compound formed by the attachment of such a radical.

méthylphénidate

(medicine) A stimulant used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, better known by the trade name Ritalin

méticuleuse

Carefully attentive to details; studious; diligent in performing a process or procedure.

méticuleusement

In a meticulous manner.

méticuleux

Overly concerned about tidiness and cleanliness.

méticulosité

The state or characteristic of being meticulous.

métier

(countable, plural crafts) A branch of skilled work or trade, especially one requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill, but sometimes applied equally to any business, calling or profession; the skilled practice of a practical occupation [since the 9th century].

métier à tisser

A frame or machine of wood or other material, in which a weaver forms cloth out of thread; a machine for interweaving yarn or threads into a fabric, as in knitting or lace making.

métis

(South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, sometimes, capitalized) Belonging to a multiracial ethnic group or category, having ancestry from more than one of the racial groups of Southern Africa (black, white, and Asian). (Under apartheid, used as a metadescription for mixed-race people and peoples such as the Cape Coloureds.)

métisse

(dated, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of mixed racial parentage or ancestry, especially one of mixed white and American Indian parentage (metis, métis, Metis, Métis; mestizo).

métonymie

(rhetoric) The use of a single characteristic or part of an object, concept or phenomenon to identify the entire object, concept, phenomenon or a related object.

métrage

(usually, uncountable) An amount of film or tape that has been used to record something.

métrage cinématographique

(usually, uncountable) An amount of film or tape that has been used to record something.

mètre

Used to form the names of measuring devices.

mètre étalon

(figuratively) A standard to which other measurements or comparisons are judged.

métro

(North America, Scotland, South Africa) A train that runs on such an underground railway.

métronome

(music) A device, containing an inverted pendulum, used to mark time by means of regular ticks at adjustable intervals; an electronic equivalent that emits flashes.

métropolitain

(North America, Scotland, South Africa) A train that runs on such an underground railway.

métrosexuel

(dated) A man — typically urban, heterosexual, and affluent — who is concerned with personal appearance, such as personal grooming, fashion, and aesthetics in general.

mets

(metonym) A specific type of prepared food.

mets-en

Yes, certainly; expression indicating strong agreement.

mettable

Able to be worn.

mettre

(ergative) To start, to initiate or take the first step into something.

mettre à jour

(transitive) To bring (a person) up to date: to inform (a person) about recent developments.

mettre à l'antenne

(intransitive) To be broadcast.

mettre à l'épreuve

To challenge, to put a strain on (something).

mettre à la porte

(transitive, employment) To terminate the employment contract of (an employee), especially for cause (such as misconduct, incompetence, or poor performance).

mettre à la poste

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) To send (an item of mail etc.) through the postal service. [from 19th c.]

mettre à la terre

(UK, transitive) To connect electrically to the earth.

mettre à mort

(transitive) To kill, especially as punishment for a capital crime.

mettre à pied

(transitive) To have (an employee) not work in order to reduce costs; to send (someone) on furlough.

mettre à sac

(transitive) To loot or pillage.

mettre à zéro

(transitive) To set some amount to be zero.

mettre au ban

(by extension) To exclude a person from a community or from society by not communicating with them or by refusing to acknowledge their presence; to refuse to associate with or talk to; to shun. [from mid 17th c.]

mettre au clou

(transitive) To give as security on a loan of money; especially, to deposit (something) at a pawn shop.

mettre au courant

(transitive, idiomatic) To inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information.

mettre au pilori

(transitive) To criticize harshly.

mettre au point

(transitive) To cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point.

mettre bas

(intransitive) To assist in a cow’s giving birth to a calf.

mettre de côté

(transitive) To store for future use.

mettre en banc

(transitive) To gather into a bunch.

mettre en boîte

(transitive) To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.

mettre en bouteille

(transitive) To seal (a liquid) into a bottle for later consumption. Also fig.

mettre en colère

(transitive) To cause such a feeling of antagonism in.

mettre en commun

(intransitive) To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.

mettre en conserve

(transitive) To place into a metal can (ie. a tin; be it tin, steel, aluminum) in order to preserve.

mettre en danger

(transitive) To put (someone or something) in danger; to risk causing harm to.

mettre en doute

(transitive) To raise doubts about; have doubts about.

mettre en drapeau

(aeronautics) To streamline the blades of an aircraft's propeller by rotating them perpendicular to the axis of the propeller when the engine is shut down so that the propeller does not windmill during flight.

mettre en échec

(chess, transitive) To make a move which puts an adversary's king in check; to put in check.

mettre en gage

(transitive) To give as security on a loan of money; especially, to deposit (something) at a pawn shop.

mettre en masse

(transitive) To gather into a bunch.

mettre en orbite

(transitive) To place an object (e.g. a satellite) into an orbit around a planet.

mettre en panne

(transitive, intransitive) To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.

mettre en pièces

(transitive, idiomatic) To totally destroy (something); to annihilate or wipe out (something).

mettre en prison

(transitive) To put in or as if in prison; confine somebody against their will.

mettre en quarantaine

(transitive) To place into isolation to prevent the spread of any contagious disease.

mettre en question

(transitive) To raise doubts about; have doubts about.

mettre en rage

(transitive) To fill with rage; to outrage; to provoke to frenzy; to make furious.

mettre en route

(ergative, of an object) To come loose, to break free of a firmly set position; to displace or loosen; to dislocate.

mettre en scène

To point out to or show (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way; to refer.

mettre en service

(transitive) To put (a ship or boat, etc.) into active service.

mettre en silencieux

(transitive) To turn off the sound of.

mettre en sourdine

(transitive) To turn off the sound of.

mettre en suspension

To bring a solid substance, usually in powder form, into suspension in a liquid.

mettre enceinte

(transitive) To cause to become pregnant.

mettre fin

(transitive, idiomatic) To stop a fight; to separate people who are fighting.

mettre fin à

(intransitive) To finish; to come to an end.

mettre la main

To gain possession of something, or to make first claim on something.

mettre la table

To arrange plates, etc. for a meal.

mettre le feu

(transitive) to set fire to (something), to light (something)

mettre sous séquestre

To separate from all external influence; to seclude; to withdraw.

mettre sur écoute

(transitive) To install an electronic listening device or devices in.

mettre sur le cric

(transitive) To physically raise using a jack.

mettre sur le dos

(transitive, slang) To indicate or ascribe an attribute to.

mettre un coup de genou

(transitive) To poke or strike with the knee.

Metz

The capital city of Moselle department, Grand Est, France.

meuble

(heraldry) An image displayed on an escutcheon.

meubler

(transitive) To provide a place with furniture, or other equipment.

meubles

(now usually, _, uncountable) Large movable item(s), usually in a room, which enhance(s) the room's characteristics, functionally or decoratively.

meuf

(UK, Ireland, colloquial, by extension) A girlfriend. [from early 20th c.]

meuglement

(onomatopoeia) The characteristic lowing sound made by cattle.

meugler

(intransitive) Of a cow or bull, to make its characteristic lowing sound.

meuh

The characteristic sound made by a cow or bull.

meule

An abrasive wheel for sharpening, polishing, or grinding.

meule de foin

A mound, pile, or stack of stored hay.

meuler

(metalworking) To remove material by rubbing with an abrasive surface.

meuleuse

A usually hand-held grinder which uses a pair of internal gears to place the rotational axis of the grinding or cutting wheel perpendicular to that of the driving motor.

meulière

A large round stone used for grinding grain.

Meunier

(countable) An English and Scottish surname originating as an occupation for a miller.

meunière

A person who owns or operates a mill, especially a flourmill.

meurtre

(countable, uncountable, crime) The killing of one person by another, whether premeditated or unintentional.

meurtrier

(countable) A person who kills another.

meurtrière

A slit, as in a castle wall, through which arrows can be fired.

meurtrir

(transitive) To strike (a person), originally with something flat or heavy, but now specifically in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it; to contuse.

meurtrissure

A purplish mark on the skin due to leakage of blood from capillaries under the surface that have been damaged by a blow.

meute

A group of hounds or dogs, hunting or kept together.

mexicain

Of, from, or pertaining to the country of Mexico.

Mexicaine

A person from the country of Mexico or of Mexican descent.

mezzanine

An intermediate floor or storey in between the main floors of a building; specifically, one that is directly above the ground floor which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, and so resembles a large balcony overlooking the ground floor; an entresol.

mi

(music) A syllable used in sol-fa (solfège) to represent the third note of a major scale.

mi-

Occupying a middle position; middle.

mi-chemin

Half of the way between two points

mi-figue mi-raisin

(figurative) Expressing contrasting emotions of pain and pleasure.

mi-mandat

Halfway through a term, or roughly so.

mi-ouest

The area of the contiguous United States contained in the central third of the country, especially the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, sometimes inclusive of Missouri and Kentucky.

mi-session

Halfway through a term, or roughly so.

miam

Indicating delight at the flavor of food.

Miami

A number of townships in the United States, including five in Ohio, listed under Miami Township.

miaou

Used to indicate the cry of a cat.

miaulement

(countable) The cry of a cat.

miauler

(intransitive) Of a cat, to make its cry.

mica

(mineral) Any of a group of hydrous aluminosilicate minerals characterized by highly perfect cleavage, so that they readily separate into very thin leaves, more or less elastic.

Michaël

A surname transferred from the given name.

miché

(slang, US) A prostitute's client.

miche de pain

(chiefly, Irish) A loaf of bread; a pan-loaf. [from 1970s]

Michel

(Judaism, Christianity, Islam) An archangel associated with defending the faithful in the tribulation.

Michel-Ange

A 15th- and 16th-century Italian artist, full name Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475–1564).

Michèle

A en given name.

Michelle

A en given name.

miches

(childish, or, vulgar, slang, North American) Buttocks.

micheton

(slang, US) A prostitute's client.

michetonneuse

(figuratively, pejorative) A person who cultivates a personal relationship in order to attain wealth.

michto

(figuratively, pejorative) A person who cultivates a personal relationship in order to attain wealth.

micro

(slang, US, horse-racing) An asterisk denoting an apprentice jockey's weight allowance.

micro-agression

(sociology, chiefly, US) Any small-scale verbal or physical interaction between those of different races, cultures, beliefs, or genders that may have no malicious intent, but that can be interpreted as an aggression.

micro-casque

A pair of headphones or earphones, or a singular headphone or earphone, typically with an attached microphone.

micro-onde

An electromagnetic wave with wavelength between that of infrared light and radio waves.

micro-onder

(transitive) To cook (something) in a microwave oven.

microbe

A contagious illness, or a pathogen causing it.

microbien

Of, relating to, or caused by microbes or microorganisms.

microbiologie

(biology) The branch of biology that deals with microorganisms, especially their effects on man and other living organisms.

microbrasserie

A small commercial brewery, often one serving a single pub at which it is physically located; in the United States, often used to indicate a brewery that produces fewer than 15,000 barrels of beer annually.

microéconomie

(economics) The field of economics that deals with small-scale economic activities such as those of an individual or company.

micrologiciel

(computing, software) Software that is intended for such embedded computer applications.

microphone

A device (transducer) used to convert sound waves into a varying electric current; normally fed into an amplifier and either recorded or transmitted over radio.

microprocesseur

(computer hardware) The entire CPU of a computer on a single integrated circuit (chip).

microprogramme

(computing, software) Software that is intended for such embedded computer applications.

micropuce

An integrated circuit.

microscope

An optical instrument used for observing small objects.

microscopique

(US, _, printing, rare, dated) A size of type between Saxon and excelsior, 2+1⁄2-point type.

microter

(transitive) To install an electronic listening device or devices in.

Midas

(Greek mythology) A king who sought and was for a while granted the cherished but subtly dangerous magical power to turn anything he touched into gold.

midi

(now, rare) The corresponding time in the middle of the night; midnight.