French–English dictionary

cerisier

The wood of a cherry tree.

cerne

(in the plural) A bagginess of the skin below the eyes from lack of sleep.

cerneau

(botany) The central (usually edible) part of a nut, especially once the hard shell has been removed.

cerner

(transitive) to surround or besiege

certain

Sure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something.

certainement

In a way which is certain; with certainty.

certains

(stressed) A nonzero, unspecified proportion of (a bounded set of countable things): at least two.

certes

(conjunctive) Signals a concession followed by a counterpoint usually headed by but.

certificat

A document containing a certified statement.

certification

Something which validates or confirms the authenticity of something; or the process of doing so.

certifier

(transitive) To own as genuine or valid; to assent to (a legal instrument) to give it validity; to avow or admit in legal form.

certitude

The state of being certain.

céruléen

Sky-blue.

cerveau

(informal) An intelligent person.

cervelet

(neuroanatomy) Part of the hindbrain in vertebrates. In humans it lies between the brainstem and the back of the cerebrum and is formed of two lateral lobes and a median lobe. It plays an important role in sensory perception, motor output, balance and posture.

cervelle

(informal) An intelligent person.

Cervin

An iconic pyramidal mountain on the border of Switzerland and Italy.

ces derniers temps

(referring to a time period starting in the recent past and including the present) in recent times.

César

An ancient Roman family name, notably that of Julius Caesar.

cessation

(formal) A ceasing or discontinuance, for example of an action, whether temporary or final.

cessé

(Of a product) Permanently no longer available for sale

cesser

To demolish or level to the ground (a building or other structure). [from early 15th c.]

cesser la production de

(transitive) To interrupt the continuance of; to put an end to, especially as regards commercial productions; to stop producing, making, or supplying.

cessez et renoncez

(legal) To stop and not resume an action.

cessez-le-feu

In warfare, an agreed end to hostilities for a specific purpose. (Typically only temporary).

cession

(legal) A transfer of a right or benefit from one person to another.

cession des droits immobiliers

(legal) The drawing of deeds etc. concerning transfer of property, and the legal execution of such transfers.

cet

(demonstrative) The (thing, person, idea, etc) indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote physically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "this", or if expressing distinction.

cétacé

An animal belonging to the infraorder Cetacea, including dolphins, porpoises, and whales.

cette

(demonstrative) The (thing, person, idea, etc) indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote physically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "this", or if expressing distinction.

cette ... ci

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

cette nuit

During the night following the current day; during the evening of today.

ceux-là

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

ceviche

(cooking) Raw seafood cured by marination in an acidic medium such as citrus, vinegar, or other souring agent, found primarily in Latin America.

cf.

Compare; compare to; compare with.

ch.

Abbreviation of each.

chabbat

Saturday, observed in Judaism as a day of rest and worship.

chablis

(countable, specifically) A fallen tree.

chachlik

A form of shish kebab, originally made of marinated lamb meat.

chachlyk

A form of shish kebab, originally made of marinated lamb meat.

chacun

For one; apiece; per.

chadègue

The large spherical tart fruit produced by this tree.

chadigue

The large spherical tart fruit produced by this tree.

chafouin

Grouchy, grumpy, irritable; easily upset.

chagrin

Distress of mind caused by a failure of aims or plans, want of appreciation, mistakes etc; vexation or mortification.

chagrin d'amour

Emotional distress or pain, often caused by a loved one or their absence.

chagriner

(transitive) To feel very sad about; to mourn; to sorrow for.

chah

A king of Persia or Iran.

chahid

One who willingly accepts being put to death or willingly accepts challenging and exposing iniquity done to oneself for adhering openly to one's religious beliefs; notably, saints canonized after red martyrdom.

chahut

A fuss, uproar, commotion or stir; hype; brouhaha, hullabaloo.

chahuter

(intransitive) To engage in horseplay.

chahuteur

Disorderly and boisterous.

chaille

(geology, uncountable) Massive, usually dull-colored and opaque, quartzite, hornstone, impure chalcedony, or other flint-like mineral.

chaîne

A line or series of mountains, buildings, etc.

chaîne alimentaire

The feeding relationships between species in a biotic community.

chaîne de blocs

A shared record of past transactions in a distributed network, typically used for cryptocurrency. [from 2010s]

chaîne de caractères

(countable, programming) An ordered sequence of text characters stored consecutively in memory and capable of being processed as a single entity.

chaîne de cheville

A piece of jewelry/jewellery, resembling a bracelet but worn around the ankle.

chaîne hi-fi

(by extension) Any object or device equipped with audio components that reproduces sound in stereo, such as a stereo console in the home.

chaîner

(computing) To be chained to another data item.

chair

Animal tissue regarded as food; meat (but sometimes excluding fish).

chaire

(education) A distinguished professorship at a university.

chaise

An item of furniture used to sit on or in, comprising a seat, legs or wheels, back, and sometimes arm rests, for use by one person.

chaise bourrée

A chair with supports for the arms or elbows.

chakra

(Hinduism, Ayurveda) Any of (at least) seven centres of spiritual energy in or near the body, according to Ayurveda philosophy.

chaland

(watercraft) A large flat-bottomed towed or self-propelled boat used mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods or bulk cargo.

chalande

(obsolete) A habitual patron, regular purchaser, returning client; a person or company who has a custom of buying from a particular business.

chalandise

(dated, outside, UK) Habitual buying of goods from one same vendor.

chaldaïque

Of or pertaining to Chaldea specifically, or ancient Babylonia in general.

chaldéen

Of or pertaining to Chaldea specifically, or ancient Babylonia in general.

châle

A square or rectangular piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders, typically by women. [from 1662]

chalenge

A difficult task, especially one that the person making the attempt finds more enjoyable because of that difficulty.

chaleur

(uncountable) A period of intensity, particularly of emotion.

chaleureuse

Of a somewhat high temperature, often but not always connoting that the high temperature is pleasant rather than uncomfortable.

chaleureusement

In a hearty manner.

chaleureux

Of a somewhat high temperature, often but not always connoting that the high temperature is pleasant rather than uncomfortable.

challenge

(legal, rare) A judge's interest in the result of a case, constituting grounds for them to not be allowed to sit the case (e.g., a conflict of interest).

challenger

(transitive) To invite (someone) to take part in a competition.

challengeur

One who challenges; especially, one who plays against the current champion of a game or contest in hopes of winning and becoming the new champion.

chalôm

(Judaism) A traditional Jewish greeting or farewell.

chaloupe

(nautical) A ship's boat, used for transport ship-to-ship or ship-to-shore.

chalumeau

A tool which projects a controlled stream of a highly flammable gas over a spark in order to produce a controlled flame.

chalut

(fishing) A net dragged across the bottom of a body of water.

chalutage

A commercial fishing technique in which a net is dragged by a moving boat. Not to be confused with trolling, which drags (one or more) lines.

chaluter

(ambitransitive) To take (fish or other marine animals) with a trawl.

chalutier

A fishing boat that uses a trawl net or dragnet to catch fish.

cham

Pertaining to the Cham people or their language.

chamaillerie

Petty quarreling.

chamailleur

Given to struggling with others out of jealousy or discord.

chaman

A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a spiritual or religious medium between the concrete and spirit worlds; sometimes also a healer.

chamane

A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a spiritual or religious medium between the concrete and spirit worlds; sometimes also a healer.

chambellan

A senior royal official in charge of superintending the arrangement of domestic affairs and often charged with receiving and paying out money kept in the royal chamber, especially in the United Kingdom and in Denmark.

chambre

A room in a house, apartment, hotel, or other dwelling where a bed is kept for sleeping.

chambre à coucher

A room in a house, apartment, hotel, or other dwelling where a bed is kept for sleeping.

chambre de bonne

(Canada) A very small bachelor (single room) apartment.

chambre forte

An arched masonry structure supporting and forming a ceiling, whether freestanding or forming part of a larger building.

chambre libre

An available room in a hotel; guest house, etc.

chambre noire

A darkened chamber in which the image of an outside object is projected and focused onto a surface.

chambre-forte

A location for storage, often for safety or preservation.

chambrée

(military, chiefly, in the plural) A building for soldiers, especially within a garrison; originally referred to temporary huts, now usually to a permanent structure or set of buildings.

chameau

A mammalian beast of burden, much used in desert areas, of the genus Camelus.

chameaupard

A ruminant, of the genus Giraffa, of the African savannah with long legs and highly elongated neck, making them the tallest living animal; yellow fur patterned with dark spots, often in the form of a network; and two or more short, skin-covered horns, so-called; strictly speaking the horn-like projections are ossicones.

chamelle

A mammalian beast of burden, much used in desert areas, of the genus Camelus.

chamois

Of the color of buff leather, a brownish yellow.

champ

The area or sphere of control and influence of something.

champ de bataille

The area where a land battle is fought, which may not necessarily be a field.

champ de blé

A field of corn (maize).

champ de courses

A course over which races are run.

champ de mines

An area in which land mines or naval mines have been laid.

champ de tir

An area for practicing shooting at targets.

champ lexical

A set of vocabulary specific to a certain subject.

Champagne

.

champfrain

An obtuse-angled relief or cut at an edge added for a finished appearance and to break sharp edges.

champignon

(mycology) Any member of the kingdom Fungi; a eukaryotic organism typically having chitin cell walls but no chlorophyll or plastids. Fungi may be unicellular or multicellular.

champignonneux

Of or pertaining to a fungus or fungi.

champion

Someone who is chosen to represent a group of people in a contest.

championnat

(sports) A competition to determine a champion, especially the final of a series of competitions.

championne

Someone who is chosen to represent a group of people in a contest.

championner

(transitive) To promote, advocate, or act as a champion for (a cause, etc.).

Chams

An ethnic group living in Cambodia and Vietnam.

chance

(countable) An opportunity or possibility.

chancel

The space around the altar in a church, often enclosed, for use by the clergy and the choir. In medieval cathedrals the chancel was usually enclosed or blocked off from the nave by an altar screen.

chancelant

Unsteady and tending to wobble.

chanceler

To make such a sudden, unsteady movement.

chances

the ratio of the probabilities of an event happening to that of it not happening

chanceux

Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; favored by fortune or luck; fortunate, lucky, propitious.

chandail

(clothing) A lightweight shirt without buttons, usually with short sleeves and no collar. Often made of cotton and frequently bears a picture or slogan.

chandelier

A person who makes or sells candles.

chandelle

A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin.

chanfrein

An obtuse-angled relief or cut at an edge added for a finished appearance and to break sharp edges.

chanfreiner

(transitive) To give a canted edge to a surface; to chamfer.

changeant

Subject to sudden or frequent changes.

changelin

(European folklore, also, figurative) In pre-modern European folklore: an infant of a magical creature that was secretly exchanged for a human infant. In British, Irish and Scandinavian mythology the exchanged infants were thought to be those of fairies, sprites or trolls; in other places, they were ascribed to demons, devils, or witches.

changeling

(European folklore, also, figurative) In pre-modern European folklore: an infant of a magical creature that was secretly exchanged for a human infant. In British, Irish and Scandinavian mythology the exchanged infants were thought to be those of fairies, sprites or trolls; in other places, they were ascribed to demons, devils, or witches.

changement

(British, weather) A change, particularly the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather.

changement climatique

Rapid, large-scale, and long-term change in the Earth's climatic system produced by global warming; anthropogenic climate change.

changement de paradigme

(sciences) A radical change in thinking from an accepted point of view to a new one, necessitated when new scientific discoveries produce anomalies in the current paradigm. [from 1962]

changer

(ambitransitive) To change the form or structure of.

chanmé

(slang) Excellent; awesome; masterful.

Channel

A former village and district of Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

chanoine

A type of clergymember serving a cathedral or collegiate church.

chanson

Any song with French words, but more specifically a classic, lyric-driven French song.

chansonnette

A short, simple verse or song.

chant

(ornithology) A vocalisation made by a bird, more complex than a call, for purposes associated with courtship and territory.

chant d’oiseau

(ornithology) A vocalisation made by a bird, more complex than a call, for purposes associated with courtship and territory.

chant funèbre

A mournful poem or piece of music composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person.

chantage

The extortion of money or favors by threats of public accusation, critique, or exposure.

chanter

To sing, especially without instruments, and as applied to monophonic and pre-modern music.

chanteur

A person who sings, often professionally.

chanteur de charme

One who croons; a singer, usually male, especially of popular music.