I. ˈfrench adjective
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Middle English french, frensh, from Old English frencisc, from Franca Frank + -isc -ish
1.
a. : of or belonging to the people, the culture, or the civilization of France
the French nation
the French army
the French countryside
b. : befitting, derived from, or suggesting the people or the culture of France
French cooking
French attitudes
: made in France or copied from articles designed in or associated with France
a French hat
a French fabric
: settled by the French
a French section of the territory
or made up of French people
a French group
2. : of, belonging to, or in French
a French lesson
a French book
3. : of or belonging to the overseas descendants of the French people (as the French Canadians)
• french·ly adverb , usually capitalized
• french·ness noun -es usually capitalized
II. noun
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: Middle English french, frensh, from Old English frencisc, from frencisc, adjective
1. -es : a Romance language that developed out of the Vulgar Latin of all of Transalpine Gaul except the southern part and that is the vehicle of an important literature at first in a wide variety of dialects with the earliest texts dating from the 9th century and that became in a form based on the Francien dialect the literary and official language of France — see anglo-french , middle french , old french , old north french ; compare provençal
2. plural in construction : the French people
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Usage: often capitalized
Etymology: french (I)
transitive verb
1. : to make French in form
2. : to prepare in a French manner: as
a. : to cut (snap beans) in strips lengthwise before cooking
b. : to cut off the strip of meat along the bone of (a rib chop)
c. : to cut (a tenderloin) into slices and pound the slices flat before cooking
3. slang : to engage (someone) in cunnilingus or fellatio
intransitive verb
: to undergo frenching