8001 radeau raft. From Latin ratis (“raft”; “pontoon bridge”). This word has entered English vocabulary. As a mnemonic, think of a mixture of English and French, raft d’eau. Or think of the rudder of a big raft. Or use rade (“harbor”) as a mnemonic if you know that word. Or imagine sending SOS radio signals from a raft drifted away on the high seas. Example, un radeau gonflable / en bois (“an inflatable / a wooden raft”).

8003 lyrique (adj.) lyric, lyrical; (n.) lyric poetry; (n.) lyric poet. English plural lyrics that refers to the words of a song is simply paroles in French, literally “words”, not lyrique or lyriques.

8007 fougue spirit, enthusiasm, ardour, passion. From Latin fuga (“fleeing”, “flight”) by way of Italian. Doublet of fugue (“fugue”; “flight”). Possibly cognate with the root of refuge. Imagine the spirit or pent-up energy escaping from a passionate person. Examples, la fougue de la jeunesse / d’un orateur (“passion of youth / an orator”).

8010 bouse dung. Gaulish origin. As a mnemonic, think of bullshit, or boot stepping on dung. Example, ça pue la bouse de vache (“it stinks like cow dung”).

8013 outrage (n.) insult, contempt, offence. This word does not really mean “outrage” or “anger”. Good people feel outrage about injustice, while bad people show contempt or commit an offence against justice. Examples, outrage à agent (“contempt of a public official”); outrage aux bonnes mœurs (“offence against public decency”).

8018 silex flint. From Latin silex (“flint”). Further origin unknown. Cognate with silica, with the root of silicon, which was coined by Scottish chemist Thomas Thomson, from Latin silex + -on (like that in carbon). Note x in silex is pronounced as /ks/. Example, allumer avec un silex (“to light with a flint”; silex is masculine).

8021 soupeser to judge or feel the weight of, to heft. From sous- (“sub-”) + peser (“to weigh”). Literally the word means lifting (from a low position, hence sous- or English sub-) and feeling the weight. The word is often used figuratively. The key to remember this word is to split it between u and p, not p and e or e and s. Examples, soupeser une boite (“to feel the weight of a box”); soupeser des arguments (“to weigh arguments”).

8029 bifteck beefsteak. From English beefsteak, losing the /s/ sound in the 20th century.

8030 arnaque (n.) rip-off, scam. Probably from harnais (“to harness”) in its informal sense of “to dress up ridiculously”. Use artful knack as a mnemonic, or Arnold’s hack if knack is not in your active vocabulary and you pronounce h of hack weakly. (See https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/26037347-test-of-ais-to-suggest-mnemonics for the process of choosing this mnemonic.) Example, éviter les arnaques en ligne (“to avoid online scams”).

8031 aire area. From Latin area (“area”). Latin a- changed to ai- in French. This word, feminine, does not mean “air”, which would still be air in French, a masculine noun. But aire and air are homophones (pronounced the same). Example, l’aire d’un triangle (“the area of a triangle”); une aire de repos / d’autoroute (“a rest area along highway”); aire de jeux (“playground”).

8039 chevreuil roe deer, roebuck. From Latin capreolus (“small roe deer”; “small goat”), from capra (“goat”), from which French chèvre (“goat”) is derived. Apparently back in Latin, a small roe deer was already confused with a goat. Nevertheless this word may be easy if you realize that the last name of Louis Chevrolet, the co-founder of the Chevrolet car company, literally means “roe deer” or “roebuck”.

8044 ourler (sewing) to hem, to make a hem (edge of cloth). From Latin ora (“border”, “rim”). Cognate with English orle (a term in heraldry or architecture), Spanish orilla (“shore”). Possibly cognate with the first element of orifice if traced to Proto-Indo-European. As a mnemonic, say “our little edge”, “our layer”, “an owl lays (cloth and hems)”, or “a bear (ours) lays (cloth and hems)”. Example, ourler le bas des manches avec une machine à coudre (“to hem the bottom of the sleeves with a sewing machine”).