French words in English ( the Norman invasion)

The Norman conquest of 1066 had wide and far reaching consequences to England , some of which we still face to this day . Both the language and the literature had major changes done to them , French words came into contact with the English ones and the language was never the same anymore .

The Normans became the rulers of the conquered land and words related power , administration and politics like state , government , people , realm and parliament were borrowed .

Feudalism was brought to England by the Normans and words like prince , peer , court , courteous , honour , glory and heraldry also have french origin .

The military strength of the Normans was noteworthy as well and words like war , peace , battle , army and navy also have french roots .

The Normans considered themselves superior to the Anglo Saxon population of England and hence words like Master , Mistress , Sir , Madam and command are … You guessed it , French ! Words pertaining to moral virtues like pity , vice , jealous , virtue and cruel also come from French .

The Normans were also very particular about their food and ways of eating and hence words like boil , toast , sauce , jelly and fry that pertain to methods of cooking entered English . Names of animals remained the same but when cooked and dressed for the nobles , cow was beef , sheep was mutton , swine was pork , deer was venison and pig became bacon .

Being the artistic folks that they are , the French couldn’t resist but influence the fashion of their time and hence words like dress , costume , garment , fashion and luxury are of French origin .

Being fond of art and architecture , several French words were frequented and hence have french roots such as arch , pillar , castle , palace and tower . Other words relating to various kinds of artisans also entered English like tailor , carpenter , butcher , mason and painter .

Do you know more words that are used frequently in English but are French in origin ? Drop them in the comments below ! We would love to hear from you folks out there . Follow us for more posts about literature and history and if you liked what you saw you can check out our other posts here !