FRANCE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does France mean? 

• FRANCE (noun)
  The noun FRANCE has 2 senses:

1. a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe

2. French writer of sophisticated novels and short stories (1844-1924)

  Familiarity information: FRANCE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FRANCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

France; French Republic

Instance hypernyms:

European country; European nation (any one of the countries occupying the European continent)

Meronyms (parts of "France"):

Maginot Line (a fortification built before World War II to protect France's eastern border; initially considered to be impregnable, it was easily overrun by the German army in 1940)

Palace of Versailles; Versailles (a palace built in the 17th century for Louis XIV southwest of Paris near the city of Versailles)

capital of France; City of Light; French capital; Paris (the capital and largest city of France; and international center of culture and commerce)

Avignon (a town in southeastern France on the Rhone River; the seat of the papacy from 1309 to 1378 and the residence of antipopes during the Great Schism)

Bordeaux (a port city in southwestern France; a major center of the wine trade)

Brest (a port city in northwestern France (in Brittany); the chief naval station of France)

Calais (a town in northern France on the Strait of Dover that serves as a ferry port to England; in 1347 it was captured by the English king Edward III after a long siege and remained in English hands until it was recaptured by the French king Henry II in 1558)

Cannes (a port and resort city on the French Riviera; site of an annual film festival)

Chablis (a town in north central France noted for white Burgundy wines)

Chartres (a town in northern France that is noted for its Gothic Cathedral)

Cherbourg (a port town in northwestern France on the English Channel; site of a naval base)

Dijon (an industrial city in eastern France to the north of Lyons)

Grenoble (a city in southeastern France on the Isere River)

Le Havre (a port city in northern France on the English Channel at the mouth of the Seine)

Lille (an industrial city in northern France near the Belgian border; was the medieval capital of Flanders)

Lyon; Lyons (a city in east-central France on the Rhone River; a principal producer of silk and rayon)

Marseille; Marseilles (a port city in southeastern France on the Mediterranean)

Nancy (a city in northeastern France in Lorraine)

Nantes (a port city in western France on the Loire estuary)

Nice (a city in southeastern France on the Mediterranean; the leading resort on the French Riviera)

Orleans (a city on the Loire river in north central France; site of the siege of Orleans by the English (1428-1429))

Reims; Rheims (a city in northeastern France to the east of Paris; scene of the coronation of most French kings; site of the unconditional German surrender in 1945 at the end of World War II)

Toulon (a port city and naval base in southeastern France on the Mediterranean coast)

Toulouse (a city on the Garonne River in southern France to the southeast of Bordeaux; a cultural center of medieval Europe)

Tours (an industrial city in western France on the Loire River)

Valenciennes (a town in northeastern France long noted for its lace industry)

Versailles (a city in north central France near Paris; site of the Palace of Versailles that was built by Louis XIV in the 17th century)

Vichy (a town in central France (south of Paris) noted for hot mineral springs; was capital of the unoccupied part of France during World War II)

Vienne (a town in south central France where is 1311-1313 the Roman Catholic Church held one of its councils)

Riviera (a coastal area between La Spezia in Italy and Cannes in France)

French region (a geographical subdivision of France)

Alsace; Alsatia; Elsass (a region of northeastern France famous for its wines)

Anjou (a former province of western France in the Loire valley)

Aquitaine; Aquitania (a region of southwestern France between Bordeaux and the Pyrenees)

Artois (a former province of northern France near the English Channel (between Picardy and Flanders))

Auvergne (a region in central France)

Bourgogne; Burgundy (a former province of eastern France that is famous for its wines)

Breiz; Bretagne; Brittany (a former province of northwestern France on a peninsula between the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay)

Centre (a low-lying region in central France)

Champagne; Champagne-Ardenne (a region of northeastern France)

Corse; Corsica (a region of France on the island of Corsica; birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte)

Franche-Comte (a former province of eastern France)

Gascogne; Gascony (a region of southwestern France)

Ile-de-France (a region of north central France including Paris and the area around it)

Languedoc-Roussillon (a region in south central France; named after the medieval dialect of French that was spoken there)

Limousin (a region of central France to the west of the Auvergne mountains)

Lorraine; Lothringen (an eastern French region rich in iron-ore deposits)

Midi (the southern part of France)

Midi-Pyrenees (a region in southwestern France)

Nord-Pas-de-Calais (a region in northeastern France)

Pays de la Loire (an agricultural region of western France on the Bay of Biscay)

Picardie; Picardy (a region of northern France on the English Channel)

Poitou; Poitou-Charentes (a low-lying region of west central France on the Bay of Biscay)

Rhone-Alpes (a mountainous region of eastern France drained by the Rhone and Saone and Isere rivers)

Normandie; Normandy (a former province of northwestern France on the English channel; divided into Haute-Normandie and Basse-Normandie)

Orleanais (a former province of north central France; centered around Orleans)

Provence (a former province of southeastern France; now administered with Cote d'Azur)

Savoy (a geographical region of historical importance; a former duchy in what is now southwestern France, western Switzerland, and northwestern Italy)

Alps; the Alps (a large mountain system in south-central Europe; scenic beauty and winter sports make them a popular tourist attraction)

Garonne; Garonne River (a river that rises in the Pyrenees and flows northwest to the Bay of Biscay)

Isere; Isere River (a river in southeastern France; a tributary of the Rhone)

Lake Geneva; Lake Leman (a lake between southwestern Switzerland and France that is crossed from east to west by the Rhone)

Lascaux (a cave in southwestern France that contains Paleolithic paintings)

Loire; Loire River (the longest French river; rises in the Massif Central and flows north and west to the Atlantic Ocean)

Loire Valley (the valley of the Loire River where many French wines originated)

Massif Central (a mountainous plateau in southern France that covers almost one sixth of the country)

Meuse; Meuse River (a European river; flows into the North Sea)

Mont Blanc; Monte Bianco (the highest mountain peak in the Alps; on the border between France and Italy to the south of Geneva (15,781 feet high))

Pyrenees (a chain of mountains between France and Spain)

Rhein; Rhine; Rhine River (a major European river carrying more traffic than any other river in the world; flows into the North Sea)

Rhone; Rhone River (a major French river; flows into the Mediterranean near Marseilles)

Sambre; Sambre River (a river in western Europe that rises in northern France and flows generally east into Belgium where it joins the Meuse at Namur)

Saone; Saone River (a river in eastern France; rises in Lorraine and flows south to become the chief tributary of the Rhone)

Scheldt; Scheldt River (a river that rises in France and flows northeast across Belgium and empties into the North Sea)

Seine; Seine River (a French river that flows through the heart of Paris and then northward into the English Channel)

Meronyms (members of "France"):

Basque (a member of a people of unknown origin living in the western Pyrenees in France and Spain)

French person; Frenchman; Frenchwoman (a person of French nationality)

Domain member region:

apache dance (a violent fast dance in French vaudeville (an apache is a member of the French underworld))

Agincourt (a battle in northern France in which English longbowmen under Henry V decisively defeated a much larger French army in 1415)

Battle of the Marne; Belleau Wood; Chateau-Thierry; Marne River (a World War I battle in northwestern France where the Allies defeated the Germans in 1918)

Chalons; Chalons-sur-Marne (the battle in which Attila the Hun was defeated by the Romans and Visigoths in 451)

battle of Crecy; Crecy (the first decisive battle of the Hundred Years' War; in 1346 the English under Edward III defeated the French under Philip of Valois)

Dunkerque; Dunkirk (an amphibious evacuation in World War II (1940) when 330,000 Allied troops had to be evacuated from the beaches in northern France in a desperate retreat under enemy fire)

battle of Ivry; Ivry; Ivry la Bataille (a battle (1590) in which the Huguenots under Henry IV defeated the Catholics under the duke of Mayenne)

Argonne; Argonne Forest; Meuse; Meuse-Argonne; Meuse-Argonne operation; Meuse River (an American operation in World War I (1918); American troops under Pershing drove back the German armies which were saved only by the armistice on November 11)

Orleans; siege of Orleans (a long siege of Orleans by the English was relieved by Joan of Arc in 1429)

battle of Poitiers; Poitiers (the battle in 1356 in which the English under the Black Prince defeated the French)

Battle of Rocroi; Rocroi (a battle in the Thirty Years' War (1643); the French defeated the Spanish invaders)

battle of St Mihiel; Saint-Mihiel; St Mihiel (a battle in the Meuse-Argonne operation in World War I (1918); the battle in which American troops launched their first offensive in France)

battle of Soissons-Reims; battle of the Aisne; battle of the Chemin-des-Dames; Soissons (a battle in World War I (May 1918); the Germans tried to attack before the American numbers were too great to defeat; the tactical success of the Germans proved to be a strategic failure)

Battle of the Somme; Somme; Somme River (battle in World War I (1916))

Battle of the Somme; Somme; Somme River (battle of World War II (1944))

battle of Tertry; Tertry (a battle in France in 687 among the descendants of Clovis)

battle of Valmy; Valmy (the French defeated the Austrian and Prussian troops in 1792 (with a famous cannonade from the French artillery))

battle of Verdun; Verdun (a battle in World War I (1916); in some of the bloodiest fighting in World War I the German offensive was stopped)

French Revolution (the revolution in France against the Bourbons; 1789-1799)

Bastille (a fortress built in Paris in the 14th century and used as a prison in the 17th and 18th centuries; it was destroyed July 14, 1789 at the start of the French Revolution)

maisonette; maisonnette (a small house)

oriflamme (a red or orange-red flag used as a standard by early French kings)

rue ((French) a street or road in France)

tricolor; tricolour (a flag having three colored stripes (especially the French flag))

jeu d'esprit (a witty comment or writing)

bon mot; mot (a clever remark)

French (the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France)

bonheur ((French) happiness and good humor)

haute cuisine ((French) an elaborate and skillful manner of preparing food)

nouvelle cuisine (a school of French cooking that uses light sauces and tries to bring out the natural flavors of foods instead of making heavy use of butter and cream)

bureau de change ((French) an establishment where you can exchange foreign money)

FLNC; National Liberation Front of Corsica (a terrorist group formed in 1976 to work for Corsican independence; attacks on Corsica are aimed at sabotaging public infrastructure and symbols of colonialism)

ancien regime (a political and social system that no longer governs (especially the system that existed in France before the French Revolution))

estate; estate of the realm; the three estates (a major social class or order of persons regarded collectively as part of the body politic of the country (especially in the United Kingdom) and formerly possessing distinct political rights)

first estate; Lords Spiritual (the clergy in France and the heads of the church in Britain)

Lords Temporal; second estate (the nobility in France and the peerage in Britain)

Commons; third estate (the common people)

escadrille (an air force squadron typically containing six airplanes (as in France during World War I))

noblesse (members of the nobility (especially of the French nobility))

commune (the smallest administrative district of several European countries)

department (the territorial and administrative division of some countries (such as France))

prefecture (the district administered by a prefect (as in France or Japan or the Roman Empire))

deputy (a member of the lower chamber of a legislative assembly (such as in France))

franc-tireur (a sharpshooter (in the French army))

legionary; legionnaire (a soldier who is a member of a legion (especially the French Foreign Legion))

patron (the proprietor of an inn)

1000000000000; one million million; trillion (the number that is represented as a one followed by 12 zeros)

quadrillion (the number that is represented as a one followed by 15 zeros)

quintillion (the number that is represented as a one followed by 18 zeros)

sextillion (the number that is represented as a one followed by 21 zeros)

septillion (the number that is represented as a one followed by 24 zeros)

octillion (the number that is represented as a one followed by 27 zeros)

Holonyms ("France" is a part of...):

Europe (the 2nd smallest continent (actually a vast peninsula of Eurasia); the British use 'Europe' to refer to all of the continent except the British Isles)

Holonyms ("France" is a member of...):

Common Market; EC; EEC; EU; Europe; European Community; European Economic Community; European Union (an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members)

NATO; North Atlantic Treaty Organization (an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security)

Sense 2

Meaning:

French writer of sophisticated novels and short stories (1844-1924)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Anatole France; France; Jacques Anatole Francois Thibault

Instance hypernyms:

author; writer (writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay))

 Context examples 

By my hilt I believe that the men of England are all in France already, and that what is left behind are in sooth the women dressed up in their paltocks and hosen.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

England may leave France to her fate.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He's made a pot of money, and he's going back to France.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The national weather agency for France has put out orange alerts for flooding in large areas of France.

(France's Flooding Rains Examined by NASA’s IMERG, NASA)

Had he ever one from France?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, returned to France?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Oh! That we had such weather here as they had at Udolpho, or at least in Tuscany and the south of France!—the night that poor St. Aubin died!—such beautiful weather!

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

From Italy they visited Germany and France.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A species of mouse in the Muridae family found in northern Africa, Portugal, Spain, and France.

(Mus spretus, NCI Thesaurus)

A country in southwestern Europe, between France and Spain.

(Andorra, NCI Thesaurus)