USING THE DICTIONARY
WORD ORDER
kabbalistique /kabalistik/ ADJ ⇒ cabalistique
caldron /wkOaldr@n/ N ⇒ cauldron
honor /wrn@r / (US) ⇒ honour
honour (Brit), honor (US) /wrn@r /SYN
ICAO /xaIsiaeIw@U/ N (abbrev of International Civil
Aviation Organization) OACI f
Icarus /wIk@r@s/ N Icare m
ICBM /xaIsiabiawem/ N (abbrev of intercontinental
ballistic missile) ICBM m
raie1 /RE/ SYN NF h
1 (= trait) line; (Agr = sillon) fur-
row; (= éraflure) mark, scratch ◆ faire une
raie2 /RE/ SYN NF (= poisson) skate, ray; (Culin)
skate ◆ raie bouclée thornback ray ◆ raie
manta manta ray ◆ raie électrique electric
Alphabetical order is followed throughout. If two variant spellings are
not alphabetically adjacent, each is treated as a separate headword;
where the information is not duplicated, there is a cross-reference to
the form treated in depth. For the alphabetical order of compounds in
French, see COMPOUNDS.
American variations in spelling are treated in the same fashion.
Proper names, as well as abbreviations and acronyms, will be found in
their alphabetical place in the word list.
Superior numbers are used to separate words of like spelling: raie1,
raie2; blow1, blow2.
COMPOUNDS
Entries may include sections headed COMP (compounds). In these will
be found English hyphenated words, such as body-surf (under body),
and point-to-point (under point), and unhyphenated combinations of
two or more elements, such as hazardous waste (under hazardous), air
traffic control (under air).
The order of compounds is alphabetical. Parts of speech are shown, and
when there is more than one, this is signalled by a lozenge.
Single words such as blackbird and partygoer, which are made up of
two elements, but are not hyphenated, appear as headwords in the
main alphabetical list.
English spelling is variable in this area, and there are possible alterna-
tives: backhander/back-hander, paintbrush/paint brush/paint-brush
etc. If the single word form is the most common, this will be treated as
a headword; paintbrush therefore does not appear in the entry paint.
When looking for a word of this type, users should bear in mind that it
may be found either in a compound section, or as a headword.
On the French side, only unhyphenated combinations, such as gaz na-
turel and modèle déposé, appear in compound sections. Alphabetical
order is not affected by linking prepositions, thus Casque bleu pre-
cedes casque à pointe. The part of speech is given where it could be am-
biguous or where there is more than one. Hyphenated words, such as
arrière-pensée and lave-glace, are treated as headwords. If a word can
appear both with or without a hyphen, both spellings are given.
USING THE DICTIONARY XII

PLURALS
Irregular plural forms of English words are given in the English-
French side, those of French words and compounds in the French-
English side.

In French, all plurals which do not consist of headword + s are shown,

eg: cheval, -aux.

Regular plurals are not shown in English.

– Most English nouns take -s in the plural: bed-s, site-s.
– Nouns that end in -s, -x, -z, -sh and some in -ch [tS] take -es in the plural:
boss-es, box-es, dish-es, patch-es.
– Nouns that end in -y not preceded by a vowel change the -y to -ies in the
plural: lady-ladies, berry-berries (but tray-s, key-s).

Plural forms of the headword which differ substantially from the sin-
gular form are listed in their alphabetical place in the word list with a
cross-reference, and repeated under the singular form.

French invariable plurals are marked "

INV on the English-French side

for ease of reference.

GENDERS

Feminine forms in French which are separated alphabetically from

the masculine form in the word list are shown as separate headwords
with a cross-reference to the masculine form.

A feminine headword requiring a different translation from its mas-

culine form is given either a separate entry or a separate category in the
case of complex entries.

In the English-French side the feminine forms of French adjectives are

given only where these are not regular. The following are considered
regular adjective inflections:
-, e; -ef, -ève; -eil, -eille; -er, -ère; -et, -ette; -eur, -euse; -eux, -euse;
-ien, -ienne; -ier, -ière; -if, -ive; -il, -ille; -on, -onne; -ot, -otte

When the translation of an English noun could be either masculine or

feminine, according to sex, the feminine form of the French noun
translation is always given.
USING THE DICTIONARY XIV

SET PHRASES AND IDIOMS

Set phrases and idiomatic expressions are also placed under the first
element or the first word in the phrase which remains constant de-
spite minor variations in the phrase itself.
To break somebody’s heart and to break the back of a task are both in-
cluded under break. To lend somebody a hand is however under hand
because it is equally possible to say to give somebody a hand.

Where this “first element″ principle has been abandoned a cross-

reference alerts the user.

At break, cross-references to ice, record etc indicate that to break the

ice and to break a record are treated at these entries.

Certain very common French and English verbs, such as faire and
make, form the basis of a very large number of phrases:
faire honneur à, faire du ski, faire la fête etc.
to make sense of something, to make an appointment, to make a
mistake etc.
We have considered such verbs to have a diminished meaning and in
such cases the set phrases will be found under the second element, eg:
faire la fête under fête, to make sense of something under sense.
The following is a list of verbs which we consider to have a diminished
meaning:
French: avoir, être, faire, donner, mettre, passer, porter, prendre,
remettre, reprendre, tenir, tirer
English: be, become, come, do, get, give, go, have, lay, make, put,
set, take.
USING THE DICTIONARY XVI

INDICATING MATERIAL
General indicating material takes the following forms:

In parentheses ( )

– Synonyms preceded by =.

– Partial definitions and other information which guide the user.

– Syntactical information to allow the non-native speaker to use the

word correctly. This is given after the translation.

In square brackets [ ]

– Within verb entries, typical noun subjects of the headword.

– Within noun entries, typical noun complements of the headword.

– Typical objects of verbs preceded by +.

– Typical noun complements of adjectives.

– Typical verb or adjective complements of adverbs.

USING THE DICTIONARY XVIII

NonC stands for “uncountable” and serves to mark nouns which are not
normally used in the plural or with the indefinite article or with nu-
merals. NonC occurs only as a warning device in cases where a non-
native speaker might otherwise use the word wrongly. There has been
no attempt to give an exhaustive account of “uncountability″ in En-
glish. NonC has also been used as an indicator to distinguish meanings
in the source language.

SPÉC stands for “technical term”.

This indicates that the common English word is “eardrum” and that
“tympanum” is restricted to the vocabulary of specialists.

. is used when the source language headword or phrase has no

equivalent in the target language and is therefore untranslatable. In
such cases the nearest cultural equivalent is given.

Sometimes it is accompanied by an explanatory gloss (in italics). Such

a gloss may be given alone in cases where there is no cultural equiva-
lent in the target language.

Small capitals are used to indicate the spoken stress in certain English
expressions.

Field labels
Labels indicating subject fields occur in the following cases :

– To differentiate various meanings of the headword.

– When the meaning in the source language is clear but may be am-
biguous in the target language.

A full list of the abbreviated field labels is given on pages XXVIII and
XXIX.
USING THE DICTIONARY XX

STYLE LABELS
A dozen or so indicators of register are used to mark non-neutral words
and expressions. These indicators are given for both source and target
languages and serve mainly as a warning to the reader using the for-
eign language. The following paragraphs explain the meaning of the
most common style labels, of which a complete list is given, with ex-
planations, on pages XXVIII and XXIX.

frm denotes formal language such as that used on official forms, in

pronouncements and other formal communications.

* indicates that the expression, while not forming part of standard

language, is used by all educated speakers in a relaxed situation but
would not be used in a formal essay or letter, or on an occasion when
the speaker wishes to impress.

* indicates that the expression is used by some but not all educated
*
speakers in a very relaxed situation. Such words should be handled
with extreme care by non-native speakers unless they are very fluent
in the language and are very sure of their company.

*** means “Danger !″ Such words are liable to offend in any situation,
and therefore are to be avoided by the non-native speaker.

† denotes old-fashioned terms which are no longer in wide current use

but which the foreign user is likely to find in reading.

†† denotes obsolete words which the user will normally find only in
classical literature.

The use of † and †† should not be confused with the label Hist. Hist does
not apply to the expression itself but denotes the historical context of
the object it refers to.

liter, littér denote an expression which belongs to literary or poetic lan-

guage.
The user should not confuse these style labels with the field labels Lit-
erat, Littérat which indicate that the expression belongs to the field of
literature. Similarly the user should note that the abbreviation lit indi-
cates the literal, as opposed to the figurative fig, meaning of a word.

For the purpose of this dictionary the indicators sl (slang) and arg (argot)
mark specific areas of vocabulary restricted to clearly defined groups of
speakers (eg schoolchildren, soldiers, etc) and for this reason a field la-
bel is added to the label sl or arg marking the departure language expres-
sion.

The labels and symbols above are used to mark either an individual
word or phrase, or a whole category, or even a complete entry. Where a
headword is marked with asterisks, any phrases in the entry will only
have asterisks if they are of a different register from the headword.
USING THE DICTIONARY XXII

PUNCTUATION

A comma is used to separate translations which have the same or very

similar meanings.

A semi-colon separates translations which are not interchangeable. As

a general rule, indicators are given to differentiate between non-
interchangeable translations.

A black lozenge precedes every new phrase.

In the translation of phrases, an alternative translation of only part of

the phrase is preceded by either or or ou.

An oblique / indicates alternatives in the source language which are

reflected exactly in the target language.

Parentheses within illustrative phrases or their translations indicate

that the material they contain is optional.

Such parentheses may be given for phrases in both source and target
language.
USING THE DICTIONARY XXIV

CROSS-REFERENCES
These are used to refer the user to the headword under which a certain
compound or idiom has been treated (see SET PHRASES AND IDIOMS
p. XIV).

They are also used to draw the user’s attention to the full treatment of
such words as numerals, days of the week and months of the year un-
der certain key words. The key words which have been treated in depth
are: French: six, sixième, soixante, samedi, septembre. English: six;
sixth, sixty, Saturday, September.

SYNONYMS
Words which are cross-referred to the thesaurus are followed by the in-
dicator SYN.
The indicator SYN tells the user the word is treated in the thesaurus,
with a full list of synonyms.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO LANGUAGE IN USE

Words which are also covered in LANGUAGE IN USE are shown by a cross-
reference at the top of the entry.
In this example, the user is referred to topics on Disagreement (chap-
ter 12), Intentions and Desires (chapter 8, § 3), and Permission (chapter 9,
§ 3).

VERBS
Tables of French and English verbs are included in the supplements at
the end of each volume (vol. 1 for French verbs and vol. 2 for English
verbs). At each verb headword in the French-English side of the dictio-
nary, a number refers the user to these tables. The preterite and past
participle of English strong verbs are given at the main verb entry.

In the French-English part of the dictionary, verbs which are true pro-
nominals are treated in a separate grammatical category.

Pronominal uses which indicate a reciprocal, reflexive or passive sense

are shown only if the translation requires it. In such cases they may be
given within the transitive category of the verb as an illustrative
phrase.

If the translation of a past participle cannot be reached directly from

the verb entry or if the past participle has adjectival value then the past
participle is treated as a headword.
USING THE DICTIONARY XXVI

CULTURAL NOTES

Extra information on culturally significant events, institutions, tradi-

tions and customs that cannot be given in an ordinary translation or
gloss is given in the form of notes following the relevant entry.

COMPLEX ENTRIES
Entries that are very long because they cover function words (to, do, à,
faire etc) or words that are used in a large number of set structures
(time, head, affaire, heure etc) are given special treatment in this dic-
tionary.

Complex entries with more than one part of speech begin with a spe-
cial “menu” that shows how they are structured.

Special notes inside the entry either explain important points of gram-
mar and usage that cannot be properly demonstrated by examples
alone, or refer you to another part of the dictionary. The word BUT (or
MAIS ) introduces exceptions to any general point that has been made.

The beginning of each semantic category is clearly signposted with in-

dicators in boxes, and set structures have been given special promi-
nence to make them easy to locate.

Finally, in entries where there are long sequences of examples contain-

ing set collocates, these collocates are highlighted to make them stand
out clearly.