Word origins

• fleur de selFloating salt crystals skimmed from the surface of evaporation ponds, used in cooking.
• flibustierA French buccaneer; a French pirate in the Americas.
• FloréalThe eighth month of the French Republican Calendar, from April 20 or 21 to May 19 or 20.
• FlorienneA female given name from French, of rare usage.
• flute-douceA kind of recorder (musical instrument).
• foie grasThe fattened liver of geese or ducks, used for gourmet cooking.
• folie à deuxA situation in which two people behave abnormally together in a way that neither of them would individually.
• folie du doutePathological doubting about all affairs of life and indecisiveness in choice situations.
• fonioDigitaria exilis, a cereal cultivated in western Africa; white fonio
• FontanesA surname from French.
• Fontenay-aux-RosesA town and commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department, France.
• foopahblunder
• ForandA surname from French.
• force majeureAn overwhelming force.
• forcenéRearing on the hind legs. (When another animal has this posture, it is termed rampant.)
• ForgetteA surname from French.
• formansSynonym of formative (“language unit, typically a morph, that has a morphological function”).
• formateurThe chief political negotiator for formal talks that are intended to lead to the formation of a cabinet, particularly in one of the Benelux countries.
• forme frusteAn incomplete form or partial symptom of a disease.
• ForterieA surname from French.
• foudroyantHaving an awesome and overwhelming effect.
• FouesnantA town in Finistère department, Brittany, France.
• fouettéA ballet move in which either the body or the working leg is whipped around forcefully.
• fougasseA type of lattice-shaped bread associated with the area of Provence.
• fougèreOne of the main olfactive families of perfumes, based on the compound coumarin; (countable) a perfume of that family.
• fougèresA town in Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, France.
• FouilletA surname from French.
• FoukaA town in Tipaza province, Algeria.
• foulageA form of massage involving kneading and pressure against the muscles.
• foulardA lightweight silk or silk-and-cotton fabric, often with a printed pattern.
• fourberydeceit, an unprincipled action.
• fourchetteA fork-shaped structure, specifically the fold of skin where the labia minora meet above the perineum (the frenulum labiorum pudendi).
• fourgonA French baggage wagon.
• FourrageA surname.
• fourrierA harbinger (someone who provides lodgings).
• fracto-Forming terms relating to the fracture or breaking of something.
• fractomorphemeA productive morpheme (one which readily forms new words) which originates as a shortened form of another word.
• fraise des boisThe wild strawberry, the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca).
• fraisierA kind of sponge cake with strawberries.
• FrançaisFrench, in the French language.
• FrançaiseA Frenchwoman.
• FrancazalA village in Haute-Garonne department, France.
• FrancienOf or relating to the dialect of Old French spoken in Île-de-France and its surrounding areas.
• FrancitanThe French language mixed with Occitan.
• francizeSynonym of frenchify, to make French or more French-like.
• FrançoisA male given name from French, equivalent to English Francis.
• franc-tireurA member of the irregular military formations deployed by France during the early stages of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71).
• FransaskoisPertaining to the francophone and French Canadian population of Saskatchewan.
• frappéA frozen fruit-flavoured dessert or appetizer.
• FrasneA commune in Doubs department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.
• FregeauA surname from French.
• FreminA surname from French.
• FrémontA lake in the city of La Tuque, Mauricie, Quebec, Canada; in full, Lac Frémont.
• frescadeA cool walk.
• friabilityThe quality of being friable, or easily broken, crumbled, or reduced to powder; friableness.
• fricadelleSynonym of frikadelle, often in French contexts.
• fricandeauThinly sliced meat, especially veal, fried or stewed with a sauce; a fricassee.
• fricotA traditional Acadian stew made with potatoes, onions, and meat with dumplings.
• frigorieA unit of rate of extraction of heat, used in refrigeration, equal to one calorie per hour.
• FrimaireThe third month of the French Republican Calendar, from November 21, 22 or 23 to December 20, 21 or 22.
• fripperyOstentation, as in fancy clothing.
• frisketA thin frame in a printing press that holds the sheet of paper in position and acts as a mask.
• frisureThe dressing of the hair by curling.
• froideurA cold or indifferent manner.
• fromage blancA creamy soft cheese made with whole or skimmed milk and cream.
• fromagerA cheese merchant.
• fromagerieA cheese shop.
• fromagierA person who makes cheese.
• fromagophileSynonym of turophile.
• frondeurA political rebel
• frottageTo rub, especially to rub onto one surface placed upon another surface that is textured, in order to create a mottled or patterned area on the first surface.
• frotteurOne who commits an act of frotteurism.
• FructidorThe twelfth and final month of the French Republican Calendar, from August 18 or 19 to September 16 or 17.
• frugivoreAn animal whose diet is mostly fruit.
• FSBKThe French Superbike Championship (France)
• fuchsineA dye (rosaniline hydrochloride, C₂₀H₁₉N₃·HCl) usually a deep red or magenta colour.
• fulmineTo thunder or lightning.
• fumoirsmoking room (room reserved for smokers)
• furnimentAccoutrements, fittings.
• fusainFine charcoal of willow wood, used as a drawing implement.
• fusaroleSynonym of astragal
• fusibilityThe ease with which a material will melt.
• fusillyHaving fusils.
• fustetA smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria).
• GabarreA surname.
• GabarrotA surname from French [in turn from Occitan].
• gabelleA tax; especially, the tax on salt levied in pre-Revolutionary France.
• gadroonAny of a series of raised decorative curves used as adornments on the necks of vases, silverware, etc.
• gaieté de cœurLightheartedness; playfulness.
• GailletA surname from French.
• GajanA village in Ariège department, France.
• galèreAn undesirable, difficult, or burdensome situation.
• GalibiSynonym of Kari'na (“An indigenous people native to the north coast of South America”).
• GalifronA character in "The Story of Pretty Goldilocks".
• galimatiasNonsense, gobbledygook.
• galipotAn unrefined turpentine obtained from some European pines
• gallerianA galley slave.
• gallicismA loanword borrowed from French.
• galopinA boy employed in a kitchen.
• galoubetA kind of French flute.