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List of English words of French origin (S–Z)

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Main article: List of English words of French origin

The pervasiveness of words of French origin that have been borrowed into English is comparable to that of borrowings from Latin.

S

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T

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U

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V

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W

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Old French had a "gw" sound, which mainly occurred in borrowings from old Germanic languages such as Frankish and Burgundian. In Parisian and other Langue d'oïl dialects, the "w" was elided, leaving "g". Conversely, in northern dialects such as Picard and Norman, the "g" was elided, leaving "w".

After the Norman Conquest, it was the Norman variety of French that took root in England. This has led to many borrowings from French starting with "w" rather than "g" or "gu". However, in several cases, the central French version has subsequently been borrowed as well, leading to doublets such as "wile" and "guile"; for more details see below.

  • wafer (Cf Old Fr. gaufre, gofre)
  • wage (Cf Old Fr. gage)
  • wager, (Cf Old Fr. gager).
  • wait, Old N. Fr. waitier [to watch] (compare modern Fr. guetter), from Frankish *wahton
  • waive, Anglo-Fr. weyver, from Old Fr. weyver, guever, probably from a Scandinavian source
  • wallet
  • wallop
  • Walter, Old N. Fr. Waltier (Old Fr. Gautier), of Germanic origin
  • war, Old N. Fr. werre, (compare Fr. guerre), from Frankish *werra
  • warble, Old N. Fr. werbler, from Frankish *werbilon
  • warden, Old N. Fr. wardein, (compare Fr. gardien), from Frankish *warding-
  • warder, Anglo-Fr. wardere, from Old N. Fr. warder, (compare Fr. garder [to guard])
  • wardrobe, Old N. Fr. warderobe (Old Fr. garderobe)
  • warrant, Old N. Fr. warant (Old Fr. guarant), from Frankish *warand
  • warranty, Anglo-Fr. and Old N. Fr. warantie (Old Fr. guarantie)
  • warren, Anglo-Fr. and Old N. Fr. warenne (Old Fr. garenna), possibly from Gaulish *varenna
  • warrior, Old N. Fr. werreieor (Old Fr. guerreor)
  • waste (Old Northern Fr. wast, Cf Modern French gâter "to spoil, waste")
  • wicket, Old N. Fr. wiket (compare Fr. guichet), from a Germanic source
  • wile, Old N. Fr. wile (Old Fr. guile)
  • William, Old N. Fr. Willaume (Old Fr. Guillaume), of Germanic origin
  • wince, Old N. Fr. wenchier (Old Fr. guenchir), from Frankish *wenkjan
  • Wisconsin, from Ouisconsin, a French variant of a Native American word
  • wyvern

X

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  • xanthein
  • xebec Fr. chébec, from Italian sciabecco, from Arabic shabbak

Y

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Z

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  • zany Fr. zani, from Italian Zanni ["Johnny"]
  • zebu Fr. zébu, from Tibetan
  • zenith Old Fr. cenith (compare modern Fr. zénith), from Arabic
  • zest Fr. zeste
  • zigzag Fr. zigzag
  • zodiac Old Fr. zodiaque, from Latin zodiacus, from Greek zodiakos
  • zouave
  • zydeco
  • zygotene

See also

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Wiktionary has a category on English terms derived from French.
Wiktionary has a category on English terms derived from Middle French.
Wiktionary has a category on English terms derived from Old French.
Wiktionary has a category on English terms derived from Old Northern French.
Wiktionary has a category on English terms derived from Anglo-Norman.
Wiktionary has a category on English terms derived from Norman.
Wiktionary has a category on English terms derived from Canadian French.
Wiktionary has a category on English terms derived from Cajun French.
Wiktionary has a category on English terms derived from Louisiana Creole French.


References

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