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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



362 words match “FRENCH”

PERCALINE n.
A fine kind of French cotton goods, usually of one color.
PHASEL n.
The French bean, or kidney bean.
PIE n.
ny Asiatic bird of the genus Dendrocitta, allied to the magpie. -- Wood pie. (Zoöl.) See French pie, under French.
PLEBISCITE n.
[Written also plebiscit.] Plebiscite we have lately taken, in popular use, from the French. Fitzed. Hall.
PLUVIOSE n.
The fifth month of the French republican calendar adopted in
PORTAL n.
By analogy with the French portail, used by recent writers for the whole architectural composition which surrounds and includes the doorways and porches of a church.
POT-AU-FEU n.
broth, meat, and vegetables prepared by boiling in a pot, -- a dish esp. common among the French. Grant Allen.
PRAIRIAL n.
The ninth month of the French Republican calendar, which dated from September 22, 1792. It began May, 20, and ended June 18. See Vendemiaire.
PRECIEUSE n.
An affected woman of polite society, esp. one of the literary women of the French salons of the 17th century.
PROSPECTIVE a.
Looking forward in time; acting with foresight; -- opposed to retrospective. The French king of Sweden are circumspect, industrious, and prospective, too, in this affair. Sir J. Child.
PRUNE n.
A plum; esp., a dried plum, used in cookery; as, French or Turkish prunes; California prunes. German prune (Bot.), a large dark purple plum, of oval shape, often one-sided. It is much used for preserving, either dried or in sirup. Prune tree. (Bot.) (a) A tree of the genus Prunus (P. domestica), which produces prunes.…
PRUNELLE n.
A kind of small and very acid French plum; -- applied especially to the stoned and dried fruit.
PUERILE a.
Boyish; childish; trifling; silly. The French have been notorious through generations for their puerile affectation of Roman forms, models, and historic precedents. De Quincey.
PUT v.
t.), to change direction; to tack. -- To put back (Naut.), to turn back; to return. "The French . . . had put back to Toulon." Southey. -- To put forth. (a) To shoot, bud, or germinate. "Take earth from under walls where nettles put forth." Bacon. (b) To leave a port or haven, as a ship. Shak. -- To put in (Naut.),…
Q n.
n, cw being used instead of qu; as in cwic, quick; cwen, queen. The name (ku) is from the French ku, which is from the Latin name of the same letter; its form is from the Latin, which derived it, through a Greek alphabet, from the Phoenician, the ultimate origin being Egyptian. Etymologically, q or qu is most nearly re…
QUADRILLION n.
According to the French notation, which is followed also upon the Continent and in the United States, a unit with fifteen ciphers annexed; according to the English notation, the number produced by involving a million to the fourth power, or the number represented by a unit with twenty-four ciphers annexed. See the Note…
QUI VIVE n.
The challenge of a French sentinel, or patrol; -- used like the English challenge: "Who comes there" To be on the qui vive, to be on guard; to be watchful and alert, like a sentinel.
QUINTILLLION n.
According to the French notation, which is used on the Continent and in America, the cube of a million, or a unit with eighteen ciphers annexed; according to the English notation, a number produced by involving a million to the fifth power, or a unit with thirty ciphers annexed. See the Note under Numeration.…
RA- n.
A prefix, from the Latin re and ad combined, coming to us through the French and Italian. See Re-, and Ad-.
RALLIES n.
A French political group, also known as the Constitutional Right from its position in the Chambers, mainly monarchists who rallied to the support of the Republic in obedience to the encyclical put forth by Pope Leo XIII. in Feb., 1892.
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