French–English dictionary

esclavagiser

(transitive) To make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall.

esclavagiste

Supporting slavery.

Esclave

A member of an Athabascan First Nations people indigenous to the region near the Great Slave Lake in western Canada

esclavon

(dated) The unrecorded ancient language from which all of these languages developed.

escogriffe

(informal) A tall, thin person.

escorte

A group of people or vehicles, generally armed, who go with a person or people of importance to safeguard them on a journey or mission.

escorter

To attend to in order to guard and protect; to accompany as a safeguard (for the person escorted or for others); to give honorable or ceremonious attendance to

escouade

A group of people organized for some common purpose, usually of about ten members.

escrime

The art or sport of duelling with swords, especially with the 17th- to 18th-century European dueling swords and the practice weapons descended from them (sport fencing).

escrimeur

A participant in the sport of fencing.

escrimeuse

A participant in the sport of fencing.

escroc

A person who uses confidence tricks to defraud or swindle people after first gaining their trust with a series of confidence games; a scam operator, confidence trickster.

escroquer

(transitive, informal) To trick, lie or defraud, usually for personal gain.

escroquerie

(informal) A fraud; something carried out with the intention of deceiving, usually for personal, often illegal, gain.

esculapien

(literally) Of or relating to Aesculapius, the Greco-Roman god of medicine.

esculent

Suitable for eating; eatable, edible.

esfrayant

(informal) Eerie, or suggestive of ghosts or the supernatural.

ésistant à

Suffix added to a noun to form an adjective denoting imperviousness to that noun.

esker

A long, narrow, sinuous ridge created by deposits from a stream running beneath a glacier.

eskimo

In, of, or relating to the Eskimo languages.

Esméralda

A en given name.

ésotérique

Intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest, or an enlightened inner circle.

ésotérisme

The inward forms of faith and religion; transcendence, mystic experience, and internal realizations of the Divine.

espace

The space character; the character resulting from pressing the space bar on a keyboard.

espace de travail

An area allocated for someone to work in, especially in an office.

espace domanial

A tract of land in common ownership; common land.

espace public

A tract of land in common ownership; common land.

espacer

(transitive) To set some distance apart.

espaceur

A thin piece of material, sometimes tapered, used for alignment or support.

espadon

A large marine fish with a long, pointed bill, Xiphias gladius.

espadrille

A light shoe having an upper made of fabric and a sole of rope.

Espagne

A country in Southern Europe, including most of the Iberian peninsula. Official name: Kingdom of Spain. Capital and largest city: Madrid.

Espagnol

A person from Spain or of Spanish descent.

Espagnole

A person from Spain or of Spanish descent.

espalier

An outdoor garden frame that can be used to grow vines or other climbing plants.

espèce de

Used before epithets, describing the person being addressed, for emphasis.

espécialement

(focus) Particularly; to a greater extent than is normal.

Espérance

(rare) A en given name.

espérer

To want (something) to happen, with a sense of expectation that it might [with that (+ clause); or (informal) with clause; or with so or (negative) not].

espiègle

Characterised or marked by frolicking; playful.

espièglerie

(uncountable) Conduct that playfully causes petty annoyance.

espiogiciel

(Internet) Programs that surreptitiously monitor and report the actions of a computer user. [from 1990s]

espion

Someone who works for an intelligence agency: whether an officer or employee thereof or anyone else who agrees to help their efforts (for ideology, for money, as blackmailee, or otherwise).

espionnage

The act or process of learning secret information through clandestine means.

espionne

(espionage) A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).

espionner

To be devious and cunning so as not to be seen.

esplanade

A clear space between a citadel and the nearest houses of the town.

Esposito

A surname from Italian.

espresso

A concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing hot water under high pressure through finely ground coffee.

espringale

(historical) An ancient military engine for launching stones and arrows by means of a spring.

esprit

A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.

esprit critique

The application of logical principles, rigorous standards of evidence, and careful reasoning to the analysis and discussion of claims, beliefs, and issues.

esprit de parti

An inclination to be partisan or biased; partiality.

esprit du temps

The spirit of the age; the taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period.

esprit familier

(witchcraft) An attendant spirit, often in animal or demon form.

esprit frappeur

(parapsychology) An unseen ghost which makes noises and causes disruption, especially by causing physical objects to move or fly about.

esquif

Any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person.

esquille

A long, sharp fragment of material, often wood.

esquimau

In, of, or relating to the Eskimo languages.

esquisser

(ambitransitive) To make a brief, basic drawing.

esquive

The act of eluding or evading or avoiding, particularly the pressure of an argument, accusation, charge, or interrogation; artful means of eluding.

esquiver

(ambitransitive) To avoid (something) by moving suddenly out of the way.

essai

Trial, attempt.

essaim

A large number of insects, especially when in motion or (for bees) migrating to a new colony.

essayage

The act of trying on clothes to inspect or adjust the fit.

essayer

(archaic) To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force.

essayiste

One who composes essays; a writer of short compositions.

esse

Used to form female equivalents.

essence

(uncountable, North America, New Zealand, Philippines) Gasoline, a light derivative of petroleum used as fuel.

essence de térébenthine

A volatile essential oil now obtained from such oleoresin of from the wood of pine trees by steam distillation; a complex mixture of monoterpenes; now used as a solvent and paint thinner.

essentiel

The major part of something.

essentiellement

in essence

esseulé

Deserted; abandoned.

esseuler

(transitive) To set apart or cut off from others.

essieu

The pin or spindle on which a wheel revolves, or which revolves with a wheel.

essor

The act of soaring.

essorer

(transitive, ergative) To convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.

essoreuse

A hand-operated device with rollers, for wringing laundry.

essoubler

(transitive) To lose remembrance of.

essoufflement

The state of being breathless or out of breath, especially merely temporarily from exertion.

essouffler

(idiomatic) To run out of energy or motivation.

essuie-pieds

A coarse mat at the entrance to a house, upon which one wipes one's shoes.

essuyer

(transitive) To make dry.

est-ce que

(transitive, chiefly, in questions) To have as one's job.

estaminet

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A public house where beverages, primarily alcoholic, may be bought and consumed, also providing food and sometimes entertainment such as live music or television.

estampe

(countable) The image created by this process.

estamper

To decorate or mark (something) with a design or symbol in relief.

estampiller

(transitive) To give an official marking to, generally by impressing or imprinting a design or symbol.

Estelle

A en given name.

ester

(organic compound) A compound most often formed by the condensation of an alcohol and an acid, with elimination of water, which contains the functional group carbon-oxygen double bond (i.e., carbonyl) joined via carbon to another oxygen atom.

esthésie

The ability to perceive sensations.

esthétique

That which appeals to the senses.

esthétiquement

In an aesthetic manner; with a pleasing sensory effect.

estimateur

One who assesses a project for cost evaluation.

estimation

A fair valuation or estimate of merit, worth, weight, etc.; recognition of excellence; gratitude and esteem.

estimatrice

One who assesses a project for cost evaluation.

estime

Assessment, estimation, or regard; especially; favourable estimation or regard.

estime de soi

Confidence in one's own worth; self-respect.

estime personnelle

Confidence in one's own worth; self-respect.

estimer

(transitive) To determine, estimate or judge the value of; to evaluate; to estimate.

estiver

(intransitive) To go into stasis or torpor in the summer months.

estocade

(fencing) An attack made by moving the sword parallel to its length and landing with the point.

estomac

An organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion.

estomaquer

(idiomatic) To astonish someone; to flabbergast someone.

estompe

(drawing) An artists’ drawing tool made of rolled paper used to smudge or blend marks made with charcoal, Conté crayon, pencil or other drawing media.

estomper

To make indistinct or hazy, to obscure or dim.

Estonie

A country in northeastern Europe, on the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea. Official name: Republic of Estonia.

estonien

Of, from, or pertaining to the country of Estonia, its people or their language.

estonienne

Of, from, or pertaining to the country of Estonia, its people or their language.

estrade

A raised platform in a room for a high table, a seat of honour, a throne, or other dignified occupancy, such as ancestral statues; a similar platform supporting a lectern, pulpit, etc., which may be used to speak from. [from c. 1800.]

estragon

A perennial herb, the wormwood species Artemisia dracunculus, from Europe and parts of Asia.

estramaçon

(history) A type of early modern sword that has a broad double-edged blade for cutting (as opposed to the more slender thrust-oriented rapier) and typically a basket hilt.

estrope

(nautical) A piece of rope spliced into a circular wreath, and put round a block for hanging it.

estropié

(offensive) A person who has severely impaired physical abilities because of deformation, injury, or amputation of parts of the body.

estropier

To make someone a cripple; to cause someone to become physically impaired.

estuaire

A coastal water body where ocean tides and river water merge, resulting in a brackish water zone.

esturgeon

Any marine or freshwater fish of the family Acipenseridae that are prized for their roe and are endemic to temperate seas and rivers of the northern hemisphere, especially central Eurasia.

et

Forming diminutive or affectionate forms of nouns or names.

et al.

And others; to complete a list, especially of persons, as authors of a published work.

et cie

Abbreviation of and company "X & Co." means X and their companions or associates, commonly as the proper name of a corporation but also informally as a group of people.

et coll.

And others; to complete a list, especially of persons, as authors of a published work.

et puis

Used to connect certain numbers: connecting units when they precede tens (now dated); connecting shillings to pence in a monetary quantity (now historical); connecting tens and units to hundreds, thousands etc. (now often omitted in US); to connect fractions to wholes. [from 10th c.]

et ss.

and the following (pages, paragraphs etc.)

et voilà !

Used to express surprise.

êta

The seventh letter of the Modern Greek alphabet, the eighth in Old Greek.

étable

(chiefly, British) A barn, especially one used for keeping cattle in.

établer

(transitive) To put or keep (an animal) in a stable.

établi

(Model, procedure, disease) Explicitly defined, described or recognized as a reference.

établir

(transitive) To make stable or firm; to confirm.

établir un réseau

(intransitive) To interact socially for the purpose of getting connections or personal advancement.

établissement

A building or campus specially designed for a specific purpose, such as incarceration, military use, or scientific experimentation.

établissement d'une liaison

(computing) An exchange of signals between two devices when communications begin in order to ensure synchronization.

établissement pénitentiaire pour mineurs

(colloquial) Synonym of juvenile hall (youth detention centre).

étage

(construction, architecture) A structure formed of beams, girders, etc, with proper covering, which divides a building horizontally into storeys/stories.

étagère

(furniture) A shelf or shelves for storing books for easy visual reference.

étai

An adjustable-height steel support used in the construction industry, typically to temporarily support structures while work is carried out.

étain

Made of tin.

étal

A bench or table on which small articles of merchandise are exposed for sale.

étalage

(figurative) Synonym of show: any similarly orderly or ostentatious display, especially of a variety of people or a series of things paraded around.

étaler

(transitive) To smear or rub over with oil or an unctuous substance; also, to spread over, as oil.

étalon

A standard by which something is evaluated or measured.

étalonnage

(technology) The act of calibrating something.

étalonner

(technology) To check or adjust by comparison with a standard.

étamine

(botany) In flowering plants, a male reproductive structure in a flower that produces pollen, typically consisting of an anther and a filament.

étanche

Impermeable to air or other gases.

étanchéifier

To make waterproof or water-resistant.

étancher

(transitive) To satisfy, especially a literal or figurative thirst.

étançon

The bar on a plough which projects downward beneath the beam to connect to the sole.

étang

A shallow body of water separated from deeper sea by a bar.

étant donné

(idiomatic) (originally) By the authority or power of; (now) because of; on the grounds of; by reason of.