Glossary of French words and expressions in English

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Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern English. English words of French origin, such as art, competition, force, money, and table are pronounced according to English rules of phonology, rather than French, and English speakers commonly used them without any awareness of their French origin.

This article covers French words and phrases that have entered the English lexicon without ever losing their character as Gallicisms: they remain unmistakably "French" to an English speaker. They are most common in written English, where they retain French diacritics and are usually printed in italics. In spoken English, at least some attempt is generally made to pronounce them as they would sound in French. An entirely English pronunciation is regarded as a solecism.

Some of the entries were never "good French", in the sense of being grammatical, idiomatic French usage. Others were once normal French but have either become very old-fashioned or have acquired different meanings and connotations in the original language, to the extent that a native French speaker would not understand them, either at all or in the intended sense.