French words starting with the letter C

Just for fun - a collection of French words I find on my real and online travels.

Today I saw and added chemise to my collection of French words.

banquette - seat usually against a wall, like a padded plank with a padded back like a headboard on a bed, extending to two or more seats
cabaret - theatre performance, usually of separate acts, some of which are singing
cagoule  - waterproof jacket like a sou'wester (which I presume means to protect you from the south west winds)
cassette - small box such as a cassette tape, e t t e being a feminine ending meaning small or modified, also appears in words such as banquette
cavalier - horseback rider
chanteuse - singer
clairvoyant - literally one who sees clearly - into the future
coiffeur - hairdo
concierge - man at a desk in a hotel lobby answering questions, providing maps and making bookings, usually free but sometimes receiving a tip
au contraire  - on the contrary
corps de ballet - ballet group
cravat - worn instead of a tie, a loosely tied scarf knotted at the front of the neck to fill the gap
croupier - man or woman managing a roulette table
cul de sac - in suburban housing estates a narrow, short close or road which ends in a turning circle for cars
chemise - flimsy top underwear
Roulette - game of dice rolled in a casino

Angela Lansbury, teacher and tutor of languages.

Today's French words: chanteuse, t e n d r e s s e, retourner

Let's look at French words which are in use. I have found them in books or newspapers. Every time I see a French word used I underline it and write (in pencil) the word French, sometimes just FR if I have two or more French words on one page.

The way to record French words or book review which I was taught at grammar school was simply to take a small A6 size book and keep it in your pocket (or purse or bag). Then you need a pen. I would attach, attached to or in a bag with a small pen, one which has a cap or easier with a click on-off retreating nib pen to protect the pocket, purse or clothes from escaping ink.

Then I type it up in my blog post for my records. (Companies offer to turn blogs into one-off books. A one off expensive book is good for your own records. However, the cost makes it far too expensive to sell, as each seller or intermediary or website wants between 10% and 90%.)

Bon - good

Jour - day, as in journal, a daily record

Bonjour - good day

Bonjour Tristesse - name of a book title - translated you could say Hello Unhappiness, Hi Misery, or Good Day Sadness, or Hello Sorrow, or Welcome Sorrow, or Welcome Sadness, which is lyrical, and flowing as Bonjour Tristesse, avoiding everyday words, and slang, yet not conveying exactly the same meaning, nor the evocation of a French setting. So you can see that the author or publisher might have kept the French word, as we do so often in conversation in English.

Chanteuse - singer, you can see that chanter is to sing and chant and sing have the same word origin or root word (Chanteuse is similar in spelling and pronunciation to the place name and drink, Chartreuse)

Juste - just or exact

Mot - word

Mot juste - exact word, or right word or precise word

Reverie - memory or daydream, possibly from re meaning again (as in return, meaning to turn back or go back, in English, r e t o u r n e r in French, and revise in English - meaning look at again, and rediffusion meaning send out again) and the root word ver meaning to see.

Tendresse - tenderness - just imagine that the French have dropped an e and an n, which is probably the case

Tristesse - sadness, je suis triste means I am sad

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Angela Lansbury, teacher of English and French, author, article writer, blogger, researcher, speaker.