France Basic Vocabulary

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France Project | France Orphaned Profiles Team | Basic Vocabulary

Contents 1 Basic Genealogical French Vocabulary 1.1 General 1.2 Family relationships 1.3 Calendar 1.4 Numbers 1.5 Administration 1.6 Occupations

Basic Genealogical French Vocabulary

Here is the basic vocabulary you will find in French primary sources. If you find words you don't understand in the documents you are working on, please contact us! This list is meant to be expanded.

General

French	English
né	born
baptisé	baptised/christened
décédé	deceased
mort	dead
enterré	buried
marié	married
épousé	married
fiançailles	engagement
mariage	wedding
muni des sacrements de l'église	received sacraments before dying (ie, did not die suddenly)
inhumé	buried
cimetière	cemetery
église	church
aujourd'hui	today
hier	yesterday
la veille	yesterday
avant-hier	the day before yesterday / two days ago
deux jours auparavant	two days before
ce jour	(on) this day
témoin	witness
demeurant	living
domicile	home
avec	with

Family relationships

French	English
fils	son
fille	daughter
père	father
mère	mother
parrain	godfather
marraine	godmother
oncle	uncle
tante	aunt
époux	husband or spouse
épouse	wife
femme	woman or wife
mari	husband
grand-père	grandfather
grand-mère	grandmother
aïeul	grandfather
aïeule	grandmother
cousin, cousine	cousin
frère	brother
sœur	sister
beau-frère	brother-in-law
belle-sœur	sister-in-law
frère germain	full (germane) brother
(frère) utérin	maternal (brother)
cousin germain	first cousin
cousin issu de germain	second cousin
neveu	nephew
nièce	niece

Calendar

French	English
jour	day
mois	month
semaine	week
an	year
année	year
lundi	Monday
mardi	Tuesday
mercredi	Wesnesday
jeudi	Thursday
vendredi	Friday
samedi	Saturday
dimanche	Sunday
janvier	January
février	February
mars	March
avril	April
mai	May
juin	June
juillet	July
août	August
septembre	September
octobre	October
novembre	November
décembre	December

Numbers

French	English
un	one
deux	two
trois	3
quatre	4
cinq	6
six	7
sept	8
huit	9
neuf	10
dix	11
onze	12
douze	13
treize	14
quatorze	15
quinze	16
seize	17
dix-sept	18
dix-huit	19
dix-neuf	20
vingt	21
vingt-et-un	22
vingt-deux	23
trente	30
quarante	40
cinquante	50
soixante	60
soixante-dix	70
septante	70
quatre-vingt	80
octante	80
quatre-vingt-dix	90
nonante	90
cent	100
cent un	101
cent dix	110
deux cent	200
mille	1000
mil	1000
mil sept cent quatre vingt treize	1793
soixante-et-onze	71
soixante-douze	72
soixante-treize	73
quatre-vingt-onze	91
quatre-vingt-douze	92
premier	first
deuxième	second
troisième	third
quatrième	fourth

Administration

French	English
département	department
arrondissement	an administrative entity under the department. Between 2 and 4 per department. Rarely used for research.
canton	an administrative entity between department and commune. Boundaries have changed frequently. Only useful for marriages in the Revolutionary period.
commune	a locality with a town hall, an elected mayor, and keeping its own civil registration books.
registre	register
maire	mayor

Occupations

For occupations and professions, see the French-English professions lexicon.

If you would like more words added to this basic vocabulary, please contact Isabelle.

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