page_title: Glossary of French expressions in English
section_title: E
hierarchical_section_title: Glossary of French expressions in English / Used in English and French / E
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Pied sur la pointe
context_page_description: 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. Thoroughly English words of French origin, such as art, competition, force, machine, money, police, publicity, role, routine and table, are pronounced according to English rules of phonology, rather than French, and are commonly used by English speakers without any consciousness of their French origin.
  This article, on the other hand, 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 them were never "good French", in the sense of being grammatical, idiomatic French usage.
context_section_description: eau de Cologne
  a type of perfume, originating in Cologne. Its Italian creator used a French name to commercialize it, Cologne at that time being under the control of France.
  eau de toilette
  lit. "grooming water". It usually refers to an aromatic product that is less expensive than a perfume because it has less of the aromatic compounds and is more for an everyday use. Cannot be shortened to eau, which means something else altogether in French (water).
  eau de vie
  lit. "water of life" (cf. Aquavit and whisky), a type of fruit brandy.
  écarté
  a card game; also a ballet position.
  échappé
  dance movement foot position.
  éclair
  a cream and chocolate icing pastry.
  éclat
  great brilliance, as of performance or achievement. Conspicuous success. Great acclamation or applause.
  écorché
  flayed; biological graphic or model with skin removed.
  élan
  a distinctive flair or style.
  élan vital
  lit. "vital ardor"; the vital force hypothesized by Henri Bergson as a source of efficient causation and evolution in nature; also called "life-force"
  éminence grise
  lit. "grey eminence": a publicity-shy person with little formal power but great influence over those in authority.
  en banc
  court hearing of the entire group of judges instead of a subset panel.
  en bloc
  as a group.
  en garde
  "[be] on [your] guard". "On guard" is of course perfectly good English: the French spelling is used for the fencing term.
  en passant
  in passing; term used in chess and in neurobiology ("synapse en passant.")
  en plein air
  lit. "in the open air"; particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.
  en pointe
  (in ballet) on tiptoe. Though used in French in this same context, it is not an expression as such. A pointe is the ballet figure where one stands on tiptoes. The expression "en pointe", though, means "in an acute angle", and, figuratively, it qualifies the most progressive or modern things (ideas, industry ).
  en route
  on the way. Often written and pronounced "On route" in British English.
  enfant terrible
  lit. "terrible child"; a disruptively unconventional person.
  ennui
  A gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom; depression
  entente
  diplomatic agreement or cooperation. L'Entente cordiale (the Cordial Entente) refers to the good diplomatic relationship between France and United Kingdom before the first World War.
  entre nous
  lit. "between us"; confidentially.
  entrée
  lit. "entrance"; the first course of a meal (UK English); used to denote the main dish or course of a meal (US English).
  entremets
  desserts/sweet dishes. More literally, a side dish that can be served between the courses of a meal.
  entrepreneur
  a person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks.
  embonpoint
  a plump, hourglass figure.
  épater la bourgeoisie or épater le bourgeois
  lit. "to shock the middle classes", a rallying cry for the French Decadent poets of the late 19th century including Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.
  escargot
  snail; in English, used only as a culinary term.
  esprit de corps
  lit. "spirit of the body [group]": a feeling of solidarity among members of a group; morale. Often used in connection with a military force.
  esprit de l'escalier
  lit. "wit of the stairs"; a concise, clever statement you think of too late, that is, on the stairs leaving the scene. The expression was created by French philosopher Denis Diderot. Very rarely used in French.
  l'État, c'est moi !
  lit. "I am the state!" — attributed to the archetypal absolute monarch, Louis XIV of France.
  étude
  a musical composition designed to provide practice in a particular technical skill in the performance of an instrument. French for "study."
  étui
  small ornamental case for needles or cosmetics.
  excusez-moi
  "Excuse me".
  extraordinaire
  extraordinary, usually as a following adjective, as "musician extraordinaire."
caption: en pointe
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