from pp. 399-402

zut (interj.) heck, damn, shoot. Probably an onomatopoeia. There doesn’t seem to be any convincing argument on not just the origin of this language-specific interjection but why. English Shoot! is almost a perfect mnemonic, especially when you consider that t of zut is pronounced, not silent.

persienne window shutter, blind, louver. Cognate with Persia, Persian. Window blinds were introduced into Europe from Persia. When they reached Venice, Venetian blinds were created. Note English Persian is French persan / persane, or Persan / Persane when referring to a Persian person.

agrément approval, authorization, approbation; pleasure, amusement, pleasantness, charm. In the first sense, think of this word as a simple noun of the action “to agree”. The second sense, as in voyage d’agrément (“pleasure trip”), is also in English agreeable, and it has a corresponding verb, agrémenter (“to embellish”, literally “to make charming”). In either case, it is not quite the same as English agreement, which would be accord, contrat, pacte in French. Example, avec l’agrément / l’approbation de (“with the approval of”).

façonner to shape, to fashion (cognate), to form, to make. See also façon (“way”, “fashion”).

mamelon nipple; round hill, knoll. From mamelle (“breast”, “udder”) + -on (diminutive suffix). The root is cognate with mamma, mama, mammal. Letter l in mamelon is from the diminutive suffix of the Latin etymon.

pare-brise windshield, windscreen (UK English). From parer (“to parry”, “to ward off”, “to deflect”) + brise (“breeze”). A windshield sure can deflect a breeze or wind. (Note brise means “breeze”, not “breaking”, which would be bris. And note windshield wiper is a different word, essuie-glace, literally “wipe-glass”.)

charogne carrion (cognate), decaying flesh of dead animals, carcasses. Also cognate with carnage, doublet with carne (“meat”), chair (“flesh”). Change cha- to ca- to see the cognation. See also chair.

caniveau street gutter (depression running along a road to collect rainwater and divert it to a storm drain). Unknown origin. Possibly cognate with canal, channel, or related to niveau (“level”). False friend of English carnival (French carnaval). As a mnemonic, think of canal niveau i.e. “channel (or canal) level”. Note the street gutter is different from the gutter on a house, which would be gouttière in French.

broussaille undergrowth, brushwood. From brosse (“brush”) + -aille (suffix with pejorative sense). The root is cognate with brush. Note that broussaille is generally not considered etymologically from brousse (“bush land”) + -aille. See also brosse, brousse.

faste auspicious, lucky, happy; splendor, pomp, ostentation. Cognate with the first element of fastidious (“very picky and hard to please”). From Latin fastus (“haughtiness”, “disdain of others”). Imagine a fastidious person that is also pompous or affectedly grand. Unrelated to English fast (either vite or jeûner in French depending on the meaning). As a mnemonic, imagine a happy, fat aristocrat showing his pompous lifestyle. But note that this word is not derogatory. Examples, dans le faste d’un palais vénitien (“in the splendor / pomp of a Venetian palace”); une année faste pour l’agriculture (“a good year for agriculture”); une période faste (“a auspicious / prosperous period”).

inhabituel unusual, uncustomary, insolite. Since habituel means “usual”, “customary”, “habitual”, this word with the in- prefix means exactly the opposite. Just don’t confuse it with English inhabit (which would be habiter in French) or its related words. The key to remember is that English prefix in- here means “in”, “within”, “inside” while French in- signifies negation. Thus, for instance, English inhabitable is French habitable, English uninhabitable is French inhabitable.

arche arch (cognate); ark (cognate), Noah’s ark , arche de Noé. This word is easy but note the two unrelated senses merged in one form, while in English they are separate.

mi-clos half-closed. Prefix mi- (as in minuit “midnight”) is mid- in English, and clos is an adjective meaning “closed” or the past participle of clore (“to close”). See also clore.

bleuté bluish, bleuâtre. This adjective is from the past participle of bleuter, a much less frequent word than bleuir (“to make blue”). Letter t was added probably for euphonic reasons. Synonym bleuâtre may have a slightly pejorative connotation due to the -âtre suffix.

flambeau torch, torche. Cognate with flame, flamboyant. Example, le flambeau de la Liberté s’élève et brille sur le monde (“the torch of Liberty rises and shines over the world “). See also flamber (“to flame”, “to burn”).

store blind (of window), shade; awning. Etymology is unhelpful and remote; according to cnrtl.fr, the etymon used to denote a mat and in the 17th century changed to refer to a mat that shields the sun. Use a mnemonic such as “a store of window blinds”. Note English store is a false friend and is etymologically unrelated. Example, un store vénitien (“a Venetian blind”; the word is masc.).

trimbaler to drag, to lug. Possibly cognate with tribulation (“suffering”), tribulate. As a mnemonic, think of a tired and sick man in tribulation dragging himself along. Or think of a tram dragging a ball. Example, trimbaler une valise dans le métro (“to lug a suitcase around in the subway”).

lorgner to ogle at, to leer at. The derived word lorgnette (“opera glass with one handle”) has entered English vocabulary. Alternatively, use lunettes (“goggles”; “sunglasses”) as a mnemonic. Or imagine a lord ogles. Example, l’homme lorgne la dame (“the man ogles the woman”).

chaume thatch. Cognate with calamus (“sweet flag”, a type of wetland plant), culm (“stem of grass”), probably with caramel (“confection of heated and browned sugar”). Alternatively, use chaud (“hot”) as a mnemonic and imagine a thatched roof keeps the house cool in summer or warm in winter due to good insulation provided by the air pockets in the straw thatch. This mnemonic works particularly well if you think of a warm or hot thatched dome (dôme in French). Or think of thatch as chow mein (Chinese stir-fried noodles). Example, le toit de chaume (“the thatched roof”).

cachot dungeon. From cacher (“to hide”) + -ot (diminutive suffix). A dungeon is a prison deeply hidden from ordinary view. Example, les ténèbres d’un cachot (“darkness of a dungeon”).

jonc rush, reed, cane. Possibly cognate with junk (originally referring to old useless ropes). Alternatively, use jungle as a mnemonic and imagine there’re lots of rush inside a jungle. Note: as in tronc (“trunk”), c is silent, unlike that in donc.

caissier cashier, teller. English cashier is from this word, which is from caisse (“box”, “case”) + -ier. Also, English cash is derived from French caisse. The feminine of this word is caissière; note the grave diacritic mark. This word should not be confused with casier (“locker”). Example, un caissier dans une banque (“a teller in a bank”; here teller is a better translation than cashier). See also caisse.

écorcher to remove skin, to skin, to flay; (figurative) to deform or mishandle. Cognate with excoriate (“to remove skin”; “to harshly criticize”). Letter é- corresponds to ex- in the original Latin word. This word and écorce (“tree bark”; “fruit peel”) are related only if their respective roots are traced to Proto-Indo-European. Specifically, é in écorce is not a prefix as é in écorcher is. Nevertheless, for word study purposes, we can consider them related. Examples, il y a plus d’une façon d’écorcher un chat (“there is more than one way to skin a cat”); écorcher le français (“to speak terrible French”, “to butcher the French language”). See also écorce.