Word origins

• QuiévrechainA town in Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
• quillonSynonym of crossguard (“a metal bar fixed between, and at right angles to, the blade and the handle of a sword or other bladed weapon that stops an opponent's similar weapon from sliding along the blade and injuring the hand of the person wielding the sword”).
• quinateFeaturing five leaflets growing from a single point; quinquefoliolate.
• quintilliardA thousand million million million million million: 1 followed by thirty-three zeros, 10³³.
• quinzaineThe fifteenth day after a feast day, including both days in the reckoning.
• quinziemeA tax of one fifteenth (0.067%), particularly the excise and customs charged by John of England around 1204.
• qui vivea state of heightened vigilance, especially prior to battle
• quoiromanticUnable to distinguish romantic attraction from platonic attraction in oneself.
• rabatoStiff collar, wired or starched, worn in the 16th and 17th centuries; sometimes used as a support for the ruff.
• RabelaisianPertaining to the works or period of Rabelais.
• RaboinA surname from French.
• rabotA rubber used in polishing marble.
• racahoutA Middle Eastern dish made from acorns.
• rachitomeA dissecting instrument for opening the spinal canal.
• raclageThe destruction of a soft growth by rubbing, as with a brush or harsh sponge; curettage, grattage, scraping.
• racloirA prehistoric flint scraper.
• raconteuseA female storyteller.
• radeauA float; a raft.
• radoubThe refitting of a ship.
• rafraîchissoirA kind of dining table with shelves and inset wells for cooling bottles.
• raguledRaguly.
• raïA form of music, originating in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds.
• RaicheA surname from French.
• railleurA jiber; a joker; a mocker.
• raisinéA type of conserve made from grapes.
• raison d'étatA state interest, especially when invoked as politically superior to moral or even legal considerations.
• raison d'êtreA reason for being; the claimed reason for the existence of something or someone; the sole or ultimate purpose of something or someone.
• raisonnéArranged systematically, or according to classes or topics.
• rambadeThe raised platform above the main artillery in the bow of the type of galley used from the 15th to the 19th century, used as a fighting platform and command post.
• RambinA surname from French.
• ramedHaving the frames, stem, and sternpost adjusted; — said of a ship on the stocks.
• RamessideOf, relating to, or characteristic of the Ramesside period of ancient Egyptian history, named such after its eleven pharaohs named Ramesses.
• ramierAny of several Caribbean pigeons, but especially Columba squamosa
• ramollescenceA softening or mollifying; softness
• ramollissementA morbid softening of some organ or tissue of the body.
• ramoneurA chimney sweep.
• rancherieA First Nations residential area within an Indian reserve in British Columbia.
• randanniteA variety of diatomaceous earth found in Randan, Puy-de-Dôme, France.
• randonnéeA walk or excursion.
• randyvooA house where the neighbours gather for a chat.
• rangaleThe ranks or body of an army.
• Rapides ParishOne of 64 parishes in Louisiana, United States, the equivalent of a county in other US states. Parish seat: Alexandria.
• rappeeA dark, coarse, strongly flavoured snuff.
• rapportageThe reporting of social news, especially by an eyewitness.
• rasantsweeping; flanking
• rasanteSweeping; grazing; applied to a style of fortification in which the command of the works over each other, and over the country, is kept very low, so that the shot may more effectually sweep or graze the ground before them
• rascasseScorpaena scrofa, the red scorpionfish.
• RascolA surname.
• ratafiaA liqueur or cordial flavored with peach or cherry kernels, bitter almonds, or other fruits.
• ratéan unsuccessful person; a failure
• rationmentSynonym of rationing.
• ratissageA raid (especially violent) carried out by the police or military, originally and chiefly carried out by the French in Algeria. and, prior to that, by the Milice (Vichy Government counter-terror police) in 1943-44.
• rattachismAn ideology calling for the French-speaking part of Belgium or Wallonia to secede from the state of Belgium and become part of France.
• ratteenA thick, coarse, woolen twill.
• ravelinA kind of outwork; a freestanding, wedge-shaped fortification used to split an attacking force as they approach a larger fortress.
• ravierA trolley used for food selection in restaurants or cafes.
• RaybaudA surname from French [in turn from Occitan].
• razeeAn armed ship with its upper deck cut away, and thus reduced to the next inferior rate, such as a seventy-four cut down to a frigate.
• rebarbativeIrritating, repellent.
• RebertA surname.
• recamierAn old-fashioned couch with headrest and footrest.
• rechaseTo chase again; to chase or drive back.
• réchaufféA dish of food that has been reheated.
• recherchéSought out and chosen with care; choice; exquisite.
• recherche du temps perduRemembrance of things past.
• reciproquereciprocal
• réclamePublicity; an advertisement.
• RecoreA surname from French.
• recreotourismRecreational tourism.
• redactor-in-chiefAn editor-in-chief.
• RedangeA canton of Luxembourg, located in the west of the country.
• redingoteA long coat or greatcoat for men.
• redowaA dance of Czech origin with turning, leaping waltz steps.
• refletlustre; brilliancy of a surface; used especially in ceramics to denote the peculiar metallic brilliancy seen in lustred pottery such as majolica
• reformatorA reformer.
• refoulTo refuse entry to a country and repatriate (an immigrant or asylum-seeker)
• regalianOf or pertaining to a royal ruler
• RégenceOf or pertaining to the style of French furniture and decoration of c. 1680–1725, characteristic of the regency of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans.
• regional county municipalityA type of supralocal administrative division in the province of Quebec, Canada, roughly equivalent to counties in other countries as well as similar subdivisions elsewhere in the rest of Canada
• reglementaryregulatory
• regletA strip of wood or metal of the height of a quadrat, used for regulating the space between pages in a chase, and also for spacing out title pages and other open matter.
• regorgeTo disgorge or vomit.
• regrateto grate again
• reinetteAny of various kinds of apple, mostly of French origin, characterized by russeting.
• RejeanneA female given name from French; feminine of Rejean
• relevéA position in which the dancer rises to the ball of the feet from demi plié to balance on one or both feet. Can be done on demi-pointe, or full pointe
• reliquairereliquary (container)
• remblaiEarth or materials made into an embankment after excavation.
• rememorationRecall by means of the memory; remembrance.
• remipedeAny of several small, marine, cave-dwelling crustaceans, of the class Remipedia, characterized by a short head and a long trunk bearing setose swimming appendages
• remisieran agent of a stockbroking company who receives a commission for each transaction handled
• remontantThat flowers more than once in each season.
• remontoirA device in a clock which provides a regular impulse to the pendulum.
• remplissageThe use of part of the infraspinatus tendon to fill in a humeral defect.
• remuageThe process by which sediment in a wine bottle is drawn to the bottle’s neck where it can be removed.
• remueurA worker who turns wine bottles to facilitate remuage.
• RenardismThe syndicalist and regionalist ideology of André Renard and his followers.
• RenéeA female given name from French.
• renifleurA paraphiliac who derives sexual pleasure from certain smells.
• Rennes-le-ChâteauA village in Aude department, France.