7502 statut status, état, situation; statute, loi. From Latin statutus (“established”), past participle of statuere (“to establish”). This word has two meanings that take different forms in English. The first meaning “status” is more common. All these words, i.e. French statut, English status, statute, are cognates. Note the final t of statut is silent, making the word a homonym of the etymologically unrelated statue (“statue”), but statut is masculine while statue ending with -e is feminine as expected. Example, le status social / juridique (“social / legal status”).

7503 taquiner to tease. From an obsolete Dutch word. Use a mnemonic such as “he wears a tacky shirt on the stage just to tease the audience”. Or think of attack but not a violent one. Example, je te taquine juste (“I’m just teasing you”).

7505 bomber to bulge; to spray-paint (graffiti etc.).

7603 bombé (especially said of furniture) rounded, convex, cambered. English bomb is from French, from Italian, from Latin bombus (“a booming sound”). A bomb is bulged in shape. Or use pomp or pompous as a mnemonic as this word often occurs in the phrase bomber le torse (“to swagger”, “to act in a pompous way”, literally “to bulge the torso”). Note, while related, English bomb is bombe as a noun and bombarder as a verb in French. Example, ce mur bombe (“this wall is bulging”; it would be very wrong to think of English bomb).

7506 paperasse (pejorative) paperwork, red-tape, (British English) bumf. Suffix -asse is pejorative as in dégueulasse (“disgusting”), godasse (“shoe”, colloquial). Imagine you curse at meaningless paper work uttering the word “ass”.

7508 otage hostage (cognate). From Old French hostage, where h was dropped because it was silent. I wish o had a diacritic mark like ô so we would know an s was dropped. But exceptions do happen. Example, il a été pris en otage (“he was taken hostage”; note do not omit en); retrouvailles des otages avec leurs proches (“reunion of the hostages with family relatives”).

7510 entracte intermission between shows, interlude. From entre + acte. Remember to split the word in the correct place instead of, say, between n and t. This word has entered English commonly written as entr’acte with the appostrophe to indicate the point of split. Example, dans le long entracte (“in the long intermission”; note this word is masculine because acte is, in spite of the -e ending).

7512 rêne rein (strap to control a horse) (cognate). Not to be confused with reine (“queen”; homophone with rêne), rein (“kidney”), régner (“to reign”). Example, prendre / tenir les rênes (“to take the reins / helm”, “to command”).

7514 broche brooch (ornament fastened to clothing with a pin) (cognate); (cooking) skewer, spit. A spit or skewer resembles a brooch. Example, la viande à la broche (“the meat on a spit”).

7517 hormis (literary) except for, sauf. From hors mis, past participle of hors mettre (“to put outside”). To put outside is to exclude. Examples, hormis à Marioupol, Moscou doit revoir à la baisse ses ambitions en Ukraine (“apart from Mariupol, Moscow must lower its ambitions in Ukraine”); hormis les cas de force majeure (“except in cases of force majeure”; hormis may well occur in this formal text).

7518 klaxon horn (in a car etc.), avertisseur sonore (literally “sound warning device”). 10422 klaxonner to honk the horn. From English klaxon (“electric alarm or horn”, which has fell out of use), from the trademark Klaxon based on a Greek word. As a mnemonic, think of kla- or klax- as onomatopoeia and -on either the same or as horn. Or use saxophone as a mnemonic. Example, klaxonnez si vous soutenez le Canada! (“honk if you support Canada!”).

7519 beugler to roar, to shout, to bawl, hurler, crier; (of a cow) to moo. Cognate with bugle (brass instrument). Or as a mnemonic, imagine you shout at a burglar. The more common meaning refers to a person’s shouting.

7521 adonner (reflexive) to indulge, to devote oneself. The root is cognate with donate. Example, s’adonner / se livrer à la boisson (“to indulge in / abandon oneself to drinking”).

7522 dispositif device, machine, appareil. Cognate with dispose, disposal. A device you use in your life or at work is at your disposal. Example, un dispositif / appareil de mesure / de chauffage (“a measuring / heating device”).

7523 chaire pulpit (raised stand for the preacher); chair (in university). Cognate with chair. Note to refer to a chair, a piece of furniture, use chaise, which is a doublet. Not to be confused with chair (“flesh”). See also chaise.

7525 omoplate shoulder blade, scapula. The first element omo- is cognate with humerus (“bone of the upper arm”), French humérus, Spanish húmero, and with Spanish hombro (“shoulder”); their Latin etymon can refer to either humerus or shoulder. The second element means “plate”. The word literally means “humerus plate”. (Note French uses an unrelated word for “shoulder”, épaule.) Example, une douleur dans la région de l’omoplate (“pain in the shoulder blade area”).

7529 siroter to sip. From sirop (“syrup”). The change of p to t cannot be explained; possibly -p was lost and the verb suffix -er would directly follow a vowel if appended so -t- was inserted for euphonic reasons (as in y a-t-il). Imagine you sip a drop of syrup. As the 19th century etymologist Auguste Brachet said, “syrops are sipped down” (English syrup used to be spelled syrop).

7535 biberon baby bottle. From Latin bibere (“to drink”) + -on (diminutive). Cognate with bib, with the root of imbibe (“to drink”). The sound of e may be omitted in pronunciation. Example, stériliser un biberon (“to sterilize a baby bottle”; note this word is masculine while most nouns ending with -on are feminine).

7541 caveau vault, voûte, crypt, sepulchre, tomb (especially for a family). Cognate with English cave, a doublet of French cave (“cellar”), caverne (“cave”). To avoid confusion with the other two words, think of the sound of -eau in this word, which is close to -au- in vault. Example, le caveau familial / de famille (“the family vault / burial”). See also cave, caverne.