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France

(frăns)

A country of western Europe. It was settled by the Franks after the retreat of the Romans, who had conquered Celtic Gaul in 58-51 BC. Though Charlemagne incorporated it into his Empire of the West after AD 800, France was eventually split into numerous fiefdoms and principalities, many of which were not incorporated into the royal domain until the time of Louis XI (reigned 1461-1483). Widespread poverty and discontent led to the French Revolution (1789) and the end of the monarchy. The First Republic (1792-1804) was followed by the First Empire (1804-1815) under Napoleon I, a period of constitutional monarchy (1814-1848), and a succession of republics broken by the Second Empire (1852-1870) under Napoleon III. Much of France was occupied by Germany in World War II. Paris is the capital and the largest city.

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France

(frăns, fräɴs), Anatole Pen name of Jacques Anatole François Thibault. 1844-1924.

French critic and writer of sophisticated, often satirical short stories and novels, including Penguin Island (1908). He won the 1921 Nobel Prize for literature.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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