French words first recorded in the 19th century

It is from French explosion + -er: the verb ending was added to the stem of the noun. The noun (1581) is from Latin explōsiō (“driving off by clapping, hissing”), from explōdō (“to drive off by…

It is from French garer + -age. Garer was first a seafaring word, recorded inland only from the 15th century (1415, guerrer (“to moor a ship”)), apart from an isolated varer (“to defend oneself”) of…

The origin is disputed. It is most often derived from the name of Port-Mahon, from Spanish Mahón, capital of Minorca, in memory of its capture by the Duke of Richelieu in 1756; tradition has it that…

It is the past participle, used as a noun, of clicher (“to stereotype”) (1803). The verb's origin is uncertain: it may come from an onomatopoeia “klitch-” imitating the sound of the die striking the…

It was formed, in several languages, from the Greek elements télé- (Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “far off”)) and -phone (Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, voice”)), on the model of télégraphe. It was…

It is borrowed from English match, which had been used of a sporting contest since the 16th century. The English noun goes back to Old English ġemæcca (“partner, mate”) (about 831), whence “an…

It was probably formed with the ending “-er” on the stem of camouflet, the idea of concealment coming from that of smoke, rather than borrowed from Italian camuffare (“to disguise, make…

It is a slang word of obscure origin. Pierre Guiraud saw in it the conjunction “mais que”, used as a noun in some dialects (Quercy “mesque” “motive”): a Monsieur Mecque, “Mr Important”, would have…

The origin is not settled: the TLFi, following Bloch and Wartburg and the FEW, takes it as probably formed on an expressive stem imitating the first sounds a child makes; Rey finds the same stem in…

It is a playful formation of the artists' studios on rocaille, the style of rockwork ornament, with the syllable “-co” doubled. Like other terms of Old Regime art such as “perruque” and “trumeau”…

It is probably borrowed from German Flick (“boy, young man”), a word of German thieves' slang recorded from 1510. The GLLF adds that it was first used in France by Jewish criminals, whose slang held…

1. The adjective “plump” is from French boule + -ot. 2. The noun “work” is of uncertain origin. The Robert dictionaries and Wiktionary take it as a back-formation from boulotter, in its old sense…

It is from French cigare + -ette. Cigare (1770, earlier cigarro 1723) is from Spanish cigarro, very probably from a Mayan word meaning “to smoke”, according to Bloch and Wartburg. The new word…

1. The drinking place is borrowed from English bar, a clipping (1857) of bar-room (in French in 1833), an Anglo-American word for a place where people drink standing at the counter. English itself…

It is the feminine of limousin used as a noun, the adjective and noun of the province of Limousin, from Late Latin “Lemovicinium”, from the tribal name Latin Lemovīcēs, “warriors of the elm”…

It is inherited from Old French compain with its vowel denasalized, “compain” was the old nominative of compagnon, and the form “coppin” “companion” is already in Molinet, after 1450. The GLLF calls…

It is probably borrowed from Czech polka, through German. The dance came from Bohemia; it was known in Prague in 1835, in Vienna in 1839, in Paris in 1840 and in London in 1842. The Czech word is…

It is from French saboter + -age. Saboter is derived from sabot “wooden shoe, clog”; it first meant to play with a top (1564), then to make a noise with one's clogs (1690). The TLFi and the FEW…

It is from French con + -erie. The noun con continues Latin cunnus (“female genitals”) (about 1195–1200); its figurative use for a fool, as an adjective first recorded in a letter from Mérimée to…

The origin is uncertain. It was created about 1850 together with its feminine gigolette. The TLFi derives it from “gigolette” with the slang suffix -o; Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and Larousse take…

It was coined, as a counterpart to égoïsme, from the stem of autrui (“others”) remodelled after its etymon Latin alter (“other”), with the suffix -isme. It seems to have been made by Auguste Comte…

It is formed from coca with the suffix -ine, the name of the alkaloid extracted from coca leaves and isolated by Niemann. “Coca” (1568) is from Spanish coca, from Quechua or Aymara “kuka”.

It is a compound of auto- (“self”) and mobile (“moving”) (from Latin mōbilis), formed on the model of locomobile, beside the older automoteur. Littré calls it a hybrid word, from Greek Ancient Greek…

It was coined by the stamp collector Georges Herpin in “Le Collectionneur de timbres-poste” of 15 November 1864, from phil(o)- (“love of”) and an element taken from Ancient Greek ἀτέλεια (atéleia…

It is a clipping of photographie (“photography; photograph”). “Photographie” is built on Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs, “light”) (genitive “phōtós”). The Petit Robert also takes it as a clipping of the…

It is a late borrowing (1867) of Provençal mascoto (“spell, bewitchment at gambling”) (before 1850), a derivative of Occitan masco (“witch”), from Old Occitan masca (1396), a word of pre-Romance…

It is borrowed from English OK, American English, first recorded in Boston in 1839 as an abbreviation of “all correct” playfully spelled “oll korrect”, part of a fashion for such jokes on the east…

It was coined by the engineer Clément Ader as the name of his flying machines, l'Avion I“, ”l'Avion II (1875), from Latin avis (“bird”) with the suffix “-on”. The GLLF dates Ader's use to 1890.

The origin is uncertain. It is probably derived from bosse “hump” with a verb ending: the Petit Robert and the GLLF start from a regional bosser du dos, to be bent over one's work, and Rey from the…

The origin is not clear. It is perhaps a clipping of fricot “feast, good meal”, from the money needed for such festivities; the Grand Robert, the GLLF and the Petit Robert accept it, but Rey notes…

The origin is uncertain. The TLFi and Rey's DHLF think it most likely a back-formation from the old verb se marer, “to be bored”, rather than from Old French marrir (“to grieve, afflict”); Old…

It is from French téléphone + -er. The English verb is recorded from 1878. téléphone was first a French coinage (1809) from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “far off”) and φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, voice”), on…

It is from French camoufler + -age. The verb camoufler, a word of thieves' slang recorded from 1821, is probably formed on the stem of camouflet “puff of smoke blown in a sleeper's face”, the idea…

It is borrowed from English film (“membrane, skin; thin layer”), from Old English filmen, used in English photography since 1845 for the coating of gelatine on a plate, and about 1880 for the roll…

It is a frenchified form (1890) of hallo (1881), borrowed from English hallo, an interjection of the United States used to hail and greet someone and to call on the telephone; the operators were…

It is a clipping of cinématographe, the name the Lumière brothers gave their apparatus (1892 as a proper name; patent of 1893), formed from Ancient Greek κίνημα (kínēma, “movement”), from “kinein”…

It is a clipping of poteau in its slang sense “friend, mate”. Rey records that noun for a friend once in 1400, in a letter of remission, and then again in convicts' slang before 1873 as potot. That…

It is from French télé- + vision, a learned compound meaning “seeing at a distance”. Wiktionary credits Constantin Perskyi with its first use, in a paper read to the International Electricity…