Stand in "Solidarity": 30 Words to Remind us English is at Least 30 Percent French

In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris last week, this list of 30 SAT-style words that came into English from French help us notice that our cultures are connected--depending on your method of analysis, between 30 and 50 percent of English words are derived from French. Read more here: "Standing in 'Solidarity': How French Informs English Vocabulary."
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. liberty
    freedom of choice
    The foundation advocates on religious liberty issues in the military. Washington Times (Nov 4, 2015)
    From Middle English liberte, from Old French liberté, from Latin libertas ‎(“freedom”), from liber ‎(“free”).
  2. equality
    the quality of being the same in quantity, value, or status
    Their clear goals and bold thinking about equality changed women’s worlds in both Britain and the US. Time (Nov 10, 2015)
    From Old French equalité (French égalité), from Latin aequālitās.
  3. fraternity
    a social club for male undergraduates
    Glory should go to them in the name of fraternity and human kindness. The Guardian (Oct 9, 2015)
    From Old French fraternité, from Latin frāternitās, ultimately from frāter ‎(“brother”).
  4. allegiance
    the act of binding yourself to a course of action
    Every year, thousands of young men and women take an oath swearing their allegiance to something bigger than them. Washington Times (Nov 11, 2015)
    From Middle English aliegiaunce, from Anglo-Norman legaunce ‎(“loyalty of a liege-servant to one's lord”), from Old French legeance, from Old French lege, liege ‎(“liege, servant”), of Germanic origin.
  5. brandish
    move or swing back and forth
    Police say the man brandished a handgun while demanding money from the tellers. Washington Times (Nov 7, 2015)
    First attested in 1340, from Old French brandiss-, from brandir ‎(“to flourish a sword”).
  6. connoisseur
    an expert able to appreciate a field
    Any coffee connoisseur will tell you that good coffee should never taste bitter. The Guardian (Oct 23, 2015)
    Around 1705–1715, from French connoisseur, from the verb connoître (obsolete pre-1835 spelling of connaître ‎(“to know”)).
  7. deluge
    a heavy rain
    Whether deluge or drought, fire or wind, the Red Hooks of the world will usually fare worse than the Upper East Sides. The New Yorker (Oct 27, 2015)
    From Old French deluge, alteration of earlier deluvie, from Latin dīluvium, from lavō ‎(“wash”).
  8. detriment
    a damage or loss
    Coleman believes that this fight to preserve parental rights is often to the detriment of children. The Guardian (Oct 19, 2015)
    From Old French detriement, from Latin detrimentum ‎(“loss, damage, literally a rubbing off”), from deterere ‎(“to rub off, wear”), from de- ‎(“down, away”) + terere ‎(“to rub”).
  9. exploit
    use or manipulate to one's advantage
    Humans have been exploiting honeybees for almost 9,000 years, according to archaeological evidence. BBC (Nov 11, 2015)
    From Old French esploit (noun), esploitier (verb).
  10. felicity
    pleasing and appropriate manner or style
    Forman's movie has its felicities, but the Altman/Doctorow project must surely take its place among the greatest movies never made. Los Angeles Times (Aug 1, 2015)
    From Old French felicite, from Latin felicitās ‎(“luck”), from Latin felix ‎(“lucky”).
  11. genre
    a kind of literary or artistic work
    It is an international and cross-disciplinary award, open to any genre or form of writing. BBC (Nov 10, 2015)
    Borrowing from French genre ‎(“kind”), from Latin genus (cognate with Ancient Greek γένος ‎(génos)), from Proto-Indo-European *genes-.
  12. hierarchy
    a series of ordered groupings within a system
    These are inherently uncomfortable topics that force students to think critically about their privilege and their place in the hierarchy of this world. Salon (Oct 28, 2015)
    From Old French ierarchie (French hiérarchie), from Latin hierarchia, from Ancient Greek ἱεραρχία ‎(hierarkhía, “rule of a high priest”), from ἱεράρχης ‎(hierárkhēs, “high priest”), from ἱερός ‎(hierós, “holy”) and ἄρχω ‎(árkhō, “I rule”).
  13. ideology
    an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group
    “Everyone is entitled to an ideology,” I say, “but I guess we’re learning that you shouldn’t force yours on to other people.” The Guardian (Nov 7, 2015)
    From French idéologie, from idéo- + -logie (equivalent to English ideo- +‎ -logy). Coined 1796 by Destutt de Tracy. Modern sense of “doctrine” attributed to use of related idéologue ‎(“ideologue”) by Napoleon Bonaparte as a term of abuse towards political opponents in early 1800s.
  14. jargon
    technical terminology characteristic of a particular subject
    One telling sign is the "burn rate" - jargon for how much a candidate spends versus how much he is raising. Reuters (Oct 16, 2015)
    Old French jargon ‎(“chatter, talk, language”)
  15. juxtapose
    place side by side
    Instead of looking stately, they appear smug and overweight, often juxtaposed with symbols of Western decadence. Los Angeles Times (Nov 2, 2015)
    From French juxtaposer, corresponding to juxta- + pose, derived from Latin iuxtā ‎(“near, next to”) + pōnō ‎(“place”).
  16. kerchief
    a square scarf folded into a triangle and worn over the head
    As she spoke, she shoved Rivka away, untied the knot of the kerchief with trembling fingers, and retied it about her own head. The Devil's Arithmetic
    Middle English, from Old French couvrechief, from couvrir ‎(“to cover”) + chief ‎(“head”).
  17. luminary
    a celebrity who is an inspiration to others
    On another, civil rights luminary Andrew Young is stumping at a civil rights roundtable. Los Angeles Times (Nov 7, 2015)
    From Old French luminarie ‎(“lamp, lights, lighting; candles; brightness, illumination”) (French luminaire), from Late Latin luminaria, from luminare, from lumen.
  18. modify
    cause to change; make different
    Many armor pieces can also be modified to improve effectiveness. The Verge (Nov 9, 2015)
    From Middle English modifien, from Middle French modifier, from Latin modificare ‎(“to limit, control, regulate, deponent”), from modificari ‎(“to measure off, set bound to, moderate”), from modus ‎(“measure”) + facere ‎(“to make”).
  19. naive
    marked by or showing unaffected simplicity
    The story on screen comes off as a naive interpretation of the homeless experience as imagined from a place of great privilege. Los Angeles Times (Nov 11, 2015)
    1650s, "natural, simple, artless," from French naïve, fem. of naïf, from Old French naif "naive, natural, genuine; just born; foolish, innocent; unspoiled, unworked" (13c.), from Latin nativus "not artificial," also "native, rustic," literally "born, innate, natural". (From etymonline.
  20. nuisance
    anything that disturbs, endangers life, or is offensive
    A problem that used to be an occasional nuisance a generation ago has turned chronic for some. Washington Post (Oct 24, 2015)
    From Anglo-Norman nusaunce, nussance etc., from Old French nuisance, from nuisir ‎(“to harm”) (, from Latin noceō ‎(“I harm”), nocēre).
  21. ordain
    order by virtue of superior authority; decree
    Since there are seven days in the week, they figure that God has ordained seven millennia of human existence. The New Yorker (Oct 15, 2015)
    From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ordinare ‎(“to order”), from ordo ‎(“order”).
  22. prerogative
    a right reserved exclusively by a person or group
    Mr. Erdogan, who now serves as president, used his prerogative to call for elections this weekend. Washington Times (Oct 28, 2015)
    From the Anglo-Norman noun prerogative, from Latin praerogātīva ‎(“previous verdict; claim, privilege”), noun use of the feminine singular of praerogātīvus ‎(“having first vote; privileged”).
  23. quaint
    attractively old-fashioned
    They believe that free-speech protection is a quaint obstacle to getting what they want, which is control. Wall Street Journal (Nov 11, 2015)
    From Anglo-Norman cointe, queinte et al., Old French cointe ‎(“pretty, clever, knowing”), from Latin cognitus, past participle of cognōscō ‎(“I know”).
  24. realm
    a domain in which something is dominant
    Are jetpacks about to move from the realms of fantasy and adventure to serious practical application? BBC (Nov 10, 2015)
    From Old French reaume, realme ‎(“kingdom”), of unclear origins. A postulated *rēgālimen, Late Latin cross of regimen with rēgālis is usually cited.
  25. solidarity
    a union of interests or purposes among members of a group
    They stood in solidarity with the student body. Time (Nov 9, 2015)
    From French solidarité ‎(“solidarity”), from solidaire ‎(“characterized by solidarity”), from Latin solidum ‎(“whole sum”), neuter of solidus ‎(“solid”).
  26. temporal
    not eternal
    The chief pursuit of these women is more temporal than celestial. New York Times (Oct 11, 2015)
    From Old French temporal "earthly," and directly from Latin temporalis "of a time, but for a time, temporary," from tempus (genitive temporis) "time, season, proper time or season," of unknown origin. From etymonline.
  27. unique
    the single one of its kind
    The track is unique in that it is the first built specifically for F1 in the U.S. US News (Nov 11, 2015)
    From French unique.
  28. vague
    lacking clarity or distinctness
    The details are a bit vague as to how a mess was made of—or by—the dessert. Wall Street Journal (Nov 10, 2015)
    From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus ‎(“wandering, rambling, strolling, fig. uncertain, vague”).
  29. wager
    the act of gambling
    Florida bans wagering on games of skill or chance, and a 1991 attorney general's opinion concluded that fantasy sports betting was prohibited. US News (Nov 11, 2015)
    From Anglo-Norman wageure, from Old Northern French wagier ‎(“to pledge”) (compare Old French guagier, whence modern French gager).
  30. zenith
    the highest point of something
    It's colorful, dynamic, and moves at something close to warp speed at its zenith. The Verge (Nov 2, 2015)
    From Old French cenith (Modern French zénith), from Medieval Latin cenit, senit, bungled scribal transliterations of Arabic samt "road, path," abbreviation of samt ar-ras, literally "the way over the head." Letter -m- misread as -ni-. From etymonline.
Created on Mon Nov 16 09:10:26 EST 2015 (updated Mon Nov 16 15:54:28 EST 2015)

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