Word origins

• renovelTo renew; to renovate.
• renversementA reversal or turning backwards; turnaround.
• renvoyA sending back.
• repertibleSynonym of findable: able to be found.
• repetiteurA tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers.
• repiqueIn piquet, a bonus of 60 points awarded to a player who scores 30 points during the declaration phase, prior to the opponent scoring anything.
• replacismThe supposed ideology in favor of the Great Replacement.
• replacistA member of the elite that is said to be assisting in the implementation of the Great Replacement.
• repoussageThe art or process of hammering out or pressing thin metal from the reverse side, either to produce decorative work or to level up part of an etched plate that has been worked so as to cause a depression.
• repousséA metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side.
• repoussoirThe use of an object such as a curtain extremely close up to the picture plane in a painting. This originates from Baroque paintings and is used to create depth
• representantA representative.
• Republic of the NigerOfficial name of Niger: a country in West Africa.
• requiem sharkAny member of the taxonomic family Carcharhinidae (order Carcharhiniformes).
• rerefiefA fief held by an intermediary or subtenant
• réseauA system of lines forming small squares of standard size, which is photographed, by a separate exposure, on the same plate with star images to facilitate measurements, detect changes of the film, etc.
• resentimentFeeling or sense of anything; the state of being deeply affected by anything.
• resiliateTo exit, cancel, or draw back from a lease or contract.
• resiliationThe act of cancelling, annulling or drawing back from (a contract).
• ressautA projection in an entablature.
• ressentimentA sense of resentment arising from deep-seated feelings of envy or hatred, leading the resentful one to blame it on an external agent.
• restaurateuseA female restaurateur.
• restauratriceA female restaurateur.
• restavecA child sent by their parents to work for another household as a domestic servant.
• retableA table or shelf behind an altar, on which are placed images or holy objects.
• retardataireanachronistic, dated, especially in artistic style.
• retiradeA kind of retrenchment, as in the body of a bastion, which may be disputed inch by inch after the defenses are dismantled. It usually consists of two faces which make a reentering angle.
• retour sans protêtan instruction by a drawer of a bill of exchange that the bill may be returned without protest if it is dishonoured by the drawee.
• retrogardeDescriptive of an art movement, particularly in Slovenia, that looks back to the past, as opposed to avant-garde.
• retropharyngealLocated behind the pharynx.
• retrousséTurned up, especially when describing the nose.
• return to one's muttonsTo get back to the business at hand.
• RéunionAn island, overseas department, and administrative region of France, located in the Indian Ocean to the west of Mauritius and to the east of Madagascar.
• revanchismThe political policy of endeavouring to regain lost territory.
• revanchistA revanchist person; occasionally, anyone seeking vengeance.
• revendicationThe act of revendicating.
• revertentHaving reverted to a previous (more basic or more natural) state.
• revertibleAble to be reverted.
• revetTo face (an embankment, etc.) with masonry, wood, or other material.
• RevetteA surname from French.
• revivifyTo reanimate, bring back to life.
• RexismA fascist movement active in Belgium from 1935 to 1945; the ideology of the Rexist Party
• rhapsodomancyDivination by reading a random passage from a poem.
• RhodanianOf, or aboriginal to, the Rhône valley.
• RhôneA department of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France.
• rhum agricoleA form of rum specifically distilled from fresh sugarcane juice.
• riantMirthful, cheerful, smiling, light-hearted.
• rianteCheerful, agreeable (chiefly of a place, landscape etc.); pleasing to look at.
• ribauldequinAn engine of war used in the Middle Ages, consisting of a protected elevated staging on wheels, and armed in front with pikes. After the 14th century it was furnished with small cannon.
• RichardotA surname from French.
• RichouxA surname from French.
• RicœurA surname from French — famously held by
• RicœurianOf or relating to Paul Ricœur (1913–2005), French philosopher best known for combining phenomenological description with hermeneutics.
• rien ne va plusIn roulette, an announcement made by the croupier while the wheel is spinning and no more bets can be placed.
• rigadoonA quickstep dance for two people.
• rigoletA small stream.
• rigosolA deeply ploughed agricultural soil type.
• rilletteA dish of meat cooked in fat then shredded and served in a ramekin.
• rimayea crevasse at the upper end of a mountain glacier.
• ripostA thrust given in return after parrying a lunge.
• risquéSlightly sexually suggestive; bordering on indelicate.
• risquéeUsed when referring to a woman: feminine of risqué
• rissoleA ball of meat, some variants covered in pastry, which has been fried or barbecued.
• rite de passageSynonym of rite of passage.
• rite of passageA ceremony or series of ceremonies, often very ritualized, to celebrate a passage or transition from one stage of a person's life to another.
• riverainOf or pertaining to rivers or their surrounding environments.
• RivereA surname from French.
• Rivesaltesgrenache wine
• rivièreA necklace of diamonds or other precious stones, especially one of several strings.
• RoaixA surname.
• robe à la françaiseA sack-back
• robe de chambredressing gown
• robe decolleteA low-cut dress for women.
• robe montanteA high-necked dress.
• robe volanteA type of flowy, hanging, voluminous dress worn in the 18th century.
• RobicheauA surname from French.
• RobideauA surname from French.
• rocamboleThe sand leek, Allium scorodoprasum
• rocambolesqueFantastic, incredible, fabulous.
• roccellic acidA dibasic acid, C₁₇H₃₂O₄, of the oxalic series, found in archil (Roccella tinctoria, etc.), and other lichens.
• RochechouartA commune and small town in Haute-Vienne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
• RochegudeA village in Drôme department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France.
• roche moutonnéeA rock formation created by glacial erosion.
• roching caskA tank in which alum is crystallized from a solution.
• Rocky MountainsA range of mountains running from Northern New Mexico to Alaska.
• rodomontA vain or blustering boaster; a braggart.
• rodomontadeVain boasting; a rant; pretentious behaviour.
• rogatorySeeking information or evidence, especially from a foreign court
• roi fainéantAny of the later French kings of the Merovingian dynasty, considered to have played a merely ceremonial role.
• romaine lettuceA long-leaved variety of lettuce, Lactuca sativa var. longifolia.
• roman à clefA piece of fiction, especially a novel, describing real-life people or events.
• roman à thèseA “thesis novel”: a novel that is didactic rather than entertaining, often taking the form of social commentary.
• roman à tiroirsA piece of fiction, especially a novel, in which the principal or main narrative (or "frame story") is interrupted by secondary narratives.
• RomandyThe French-speaking part of Switzerland.
• romeiteA yellow hexoctahedral calcium antimonate mineral with the chemical formula (Ca,Fe,Mn,Na)₂(Sb,Ti)₂O₆(O,OH,F).
• rompuBroken, as an ordinary; cut off, or broken at the top, as a chevron, a bend, etc.
• rond de jambeThe movement of a leg in a semicircular motion, either on the ground (par terre) or in the air (en l'air).
• ronde-bosseSculpture in the round.
• rondureA graceful curvature or round object; a ring; a sphere.
• rongeurAn instrument with a sharp-edged, scoop-shaped tip, for gouging out bone.