French–English dictionary

catéchisme

A book, in question and answer form, summarizing the basic principles of Christianity.

catéchumène

A convert to Christianity under instruction before baptism; a young or recent Christian preparing for confirmation.

catégorie

A name given to something or someone to categorise them as part of a particular social group.

catégoriel

Of, pertaining to, or using a category or categories.

catégorielle

Of, pertaining to, or using a category or categories.

catégoriellement

In a categorial manner.

catégorique

(said of people and their conviction) Firm; unshakeable; unyielding; determined.

catégoriquement

In a categorical manner.

catégorisation

The process of sorting or arranging things into categories or classes.

catégoriser

(transitive) To assign a category; to divide into classes.

catharsis

(drama) A release of emotional tension after an overwhelming vicarious experience, resulting in the purging or purification of the emotions, as through watching a dramatic production (especially a tragedy).

cathartique

Purgative; inducing mental or physical catharsis.

Cathay

(archaic) China, specifically medieval northern China as reached by the overland Silk Road to Xi'an or Beijing, not known at the time to be related to southern China as reached by the maritime routes to Guangzhou.

cathéchétique

Of or pertaining to catechesis.

cathédral

Relating to the office of a bishop or an archbishop.

Catherine

A en given name.

cathète

(geometry) A line perpendicular to a surface (or line); in particular, either of the sides of a right triangle other than its hypotenuse.

cathéter

(medicine) A small tube inserted into a body cavity to administer a drug, create an opening, distend a passageway, or remove fluid.

cathode

(electricity) An electrode, of a cell or other electrically polarized device, through which a positive current of electricity flows outwards (and thus, electrons flow inwards). It can have either a negative or a positive voltage with respect to anode of the same polarized device (depending on whether the device is a load or a source, respectively).

catholicisme

The faiths, practices and doctrines of the Catholic Church, usually the Roman Catholic Church.

catholicité

The quality of being catholic, universal or inclusive.

catholique

A member of a Catholic church.

cati

(countable) Any of various starch-like substances used as a laundry stiffener.

catin

(obsolete) A churl; a common man; a person, male or female, of low birth, especially one given to low conduct.

Caucasien

A native or inhabitant of the Caucasus.

Caucasienne

A native or inhabitant of the Caucasus.

caucasologie

The historical, linguistic or geopolitical studies of the Caucasus.

cauchemar

(countable) A cause of misery or ruin.

cauchemardesque

Resembling a nightmare.

caucus

A grouping of all the members of a legislature from the same party.

caudate

(zoology) Having a tail.

caudectomie

The process of cutting off or trimming the tail or ears of an animal.

causation

The act of causing.

cause

(legal) A legal proceeding; a lawsuit or prosecution.

causer

(transitive) To set off an event or action; to bring about; to produce.

cautériser

To burn and hence seal open tissue using a heated article or caustic agent so as to stop bleeding or minimise the risk of infection.

caution

(US) A surety, used to obtain the release of a criminal defendant who has been required to give bail.

cautionnement

(legal) A promise to pay a sum of money in the event that another person fails to fulfill an obligation.

cavalerie

(military, sometimes, uncountable) Cavalry soldiers (sometimes capitalized when referring to an official category).

cavalier

Lacking the proper care or concern for something important, reckless, rash, high-handed.

cavalière

Lacking the proper care or concern for something important, reckless, rash, high-handed.

cave

(architecture) A floor of a building below ground level.

caverne

A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.

caverneux

Having many caverns.

caviar

Roe of the sturgeon or of certain other large fish, considered a delicacy.

caviarder

(transitive) To censor or cover up by writing over with black ink.

cavité

(anatomy) A hollow into a bone which a part fits, such as an eye, or another bone, in the case of a joint.

caye

One of a string of small islands.

Cayenne

The capital city of French Guiana department.

cc

Initialism of carbon copy.

cci

Initialism of blind carbon copy.

CDN

Initialism of w:Côte-des-Neiges A district of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

cé

The name of the Latin-script letter C/c.

ce ... ci

The (thing) here (used in indicating something or someone nearby).

ce fut un plaisir

A polite reaction to receiving thanks, meaning that the speaker enjoyed helping the listener.

ce n'est pas grave

(hortative) It is not important; do not fret; used to reassure or comfort the person to whom it is said.

ce que

(fused relative) That which; those that; the thing(s) that.

ce qui

(fused relative) That which; those that; the thing(s) that.

ce soir

During the evening of today.

ceci

Of this, that, or it.

Cécile

A en given name.

cécité

The condition of being blind; unable to see.

céder

(figurative) Of a person: to (suddenly) cease resisting pressure or stress; to give in or give way, to yield.

Cédric

A en given name.

CEI

Initialism of Commonwealth of Independent States.

ceindre

(transitive) To bind with a flexible rope or cord.

ceinture

A band that is used in a machine to help transfer motion or power.

ceinturer

(transitive) To encircle with, or as if with a belt.

cela

The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object; known as the dummy pronoun (according to some definitions), anticipatory it or, more formally in linguistics, a syntactic expletive. The delayed subject is commonly a to-infinitive, a gerund, or a noun clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction.

cela dit

(sequence, idiomatic) From another point of view.

célébration

The formal performance of a solemn rite, such as Christian sacrament.

célèbre

famous or widely praised

célébrer

(transitive) To extol or honour in a solemn manner.

célébrité

(uncountable, uncommon outside high registers) Fame, renown; the state of being famous or talked-about. [from 17th c.]

celer

(transitive) To conceal.

céleri

A European herb (Apium graveolens) of the carrot family.

célérité

speed, swiftness; the condition of being rapid

célesta

(musical instruments) A musical instrument consisting principally of a set of graduated steel plates struck with hammers that are activated by a keyboard.

céleste

Of or pertaining to the heaven believed in by many religions.

célestine

(mineral) A mineral with orthorhombic crystals, SrSO4, colourless or white with blue and sometimes red shades.

Célia

A en given name.

célibataire

(obsolete) An unmarried woman.

Céline

A en given name.

celle-là

A specified object, thing or person (especially one further away/over there or known or mentioned later). (This entry is a translation hub.)

celles-là

A specified object, thing or person (especially one further away/over there or known or mentioned later). (This entry is a translation hub.)

cellier

A cool room in a domestic house where food is stored, but larger than a pantry.

cellophane

Any of a variety of transparent plastic films, especially one made of processed cellulose.

cellulaire

Of, relating to, consisting of, or resembling a cell or cells.

cellule

A small group of people forming part of a larger organization, often an outlawed one. [from 20th c.]

cellule nerveuse

(cytology) A cell of the nervous system which conducts nerve impulses; a neuron.

celluleux

Of, relating to, consisting of, or resembling a cell or cells.

cellulite

The dimpled appearance of skin caused by the protrusion of subcutaneous adipose tissue, especially on a woman's hips and thighs.

celluloïd

Any of a variety of thermoplastics created from nitrocellulose and camphor, once used as photographic film.

cellulose

A complex carbohydrate that forms the main constituent of the cell wall in most plants and is important in the manufacture of numerous products, such as paper, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and explosives.

Celsius

Related to a metric temperature scale, originally defined as having the freezing point of water as 0 degrees and its boiling point as 100 degrees, at standard atmospheric pressure. The standardized definition has 0.01 °C as the triple point of water, and a difference in temperature of 1 °C corresponds to 1⁄273.16 of the difference in temperature between the triple point and the absolute zero.

Celte

(historical) A member of one of the ancient peoples of Western Europe called Celtae by the Romans.

celtique

A branch of the Indo-European languages that was spread widely over Western and Central Europe in the pre-Christian era.

celui-là

First of aforementioned two items. Used with the, often without a noun.

cendre

A gray color, similar to that of the remains of a fire.

cendres

The body or any of its matter that are left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse.

cendreux

Ash-colored; pale; anemic

cendrier

A metal pan or tray to catch and retain ashes.

cenne noire

(money) A coin having face value of one cent (in either of the above senses).

cénotaphe

A monument, generally in the form of an empty tomb, erected to honour the dead whose bodies lie elsewhere, especially members of the armed forces who died in battle.

censé

Supposed or presumed.

censeur

(Ancient Rome, historical) One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and the 6th century C.E.) was a high judge of public behaviour and morality.

censorial

Relating to a censor.

censure

The use of state or group power to control freedom of expression or press, such as passing laws to prevent undesirable media from being published or propagated.

censurer

(transitive) To remove or alter those parts of a text considered offensive, vulgar, or otherwise unseemly.

cent

(money) A subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the main unit of currency in many countries. Symbol: ¢.

cent sept ans

(informal, hyperbole) A long period of time.

Centaure

(constellation) A spring constellation of the northern sky (and autumn of the southern sky) with the outline of a centaur. It includes the stars Alpha Centauri (Rigil Kentaurus and Toliman), Proxima Centauri, and Hadar.

centaurée chausse-trape

(colloquial) The starthistle, Centaurea calcitrapa, a plant with sharp thorns.

centenaire

One who or that which is at least 100 years old.

centième

The ordinal form of the number one hundred.

centilitre

(British spelling) A unit of volume or capacity of one hundredth of a litre. Symbol: cl

centime

One hundredth of a euro.

centimètre

(metrology) An SI unit of length equal to 10−2 metres. Symbol: cm

centipède

Any arthropod of class Chilopoda, which have a segmented body with one pair of legs per segment and from about 20 to 300 legs in total.

centrage

(mostly, uncountable) The process of moving something to a centre, normally before some other process.

central

Of, at, or related to a center.

centralisme

A system that centralizes, especially an administration of some kind.

Centre

A former administrative region of France, now named Centre-Val de Loire.

centre commercial

An enclosed shopping centre. [from 20th c.]

centre de masse

(geometry) The point in the interior of any figure of any number of dimensions that has as its coordinates the arithmetic mean of the coordinates of all points on the perimeter of the figure (or of all points in the interior for a center of volume).

centre-ville

The central area of a city in which there is a concentration of retail and business activities.

centrer

(transitive) To cause (an object) to occupy the center of an area.

centrifuge

Tending, or causing, to recede from the center.

centrifuger

To rotate something in a centrifuge, typically in order to separate its constituents.

centrifugeuse

By extension, any device which rotates in order to produce artificial gravity (in the form of centrifugal force)

centripète

Directed or moving towards a centre.

centriste

Of, pertaining to, or advocating centrism.

centroïde

(statistics, cluster analysis, of a cluster of points) the arithmetic mean (alternatively, median) position of a cluster of points in a coordinate system based on some application-dependent measure of distance.

centurion

(historical) An officer of the ancient Roman army, in command of a century of soldiers.

cependant

However, although, nevertheless, on the other hand (introducing a clause contrary to prior belief or in contrast with the preceding clause or sentence).

céphalée

(pathology) headache

céramique

Made of material produced by the high-temperature firing of inorganic, nonmetallic rocks and minerals.

Cerbère

(Greek mythology) The giant three-headed dog who guards the entrance to Hades; and one of the many offspring of Echidna and Typhon.

cerceau

A circular band of metal used to bind a barrel.

cercle

(countable) An association of members joining together for some common purpose, especially sports or recreation.

cercler

(transitive) To travel around along a curved path.

cercopithèque

A member of the genus Cercopithecus of Old World monkeys, of sub-Saharan Africa, principally forests.

cercueil

A closed box in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial.

cérébral

Having to do with concepts that are highly theoretical and without obvious practical application; often with mystical or religious connotations.

cérémonial

Of, relating to, consisting of, or used in a ceremony.

cérémonies

trouble; troublesome business; fuss, commotion

cérémonieux

According to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals; specifically (Christianity, obsolete) , to ceremonial laws in the Bible.

cerf

(countable) A ruminant mammal with hooves and often antlers, of the family Cervidae, or one of several similar animals from related families of the order Artiodactyla, such as the musk deer or mouse deer.

cerfeuil musqué

Myrrhis odorata, a plant in the genus Myrrhis, in the family Apiaceae.

cerise

A deep, bright red colour tinted with pink.