Festive French Vocabulary

Posted by Josh on 13th Dec 2023 in the blog in the learning french category

It’s that time of the year again. The neige is falling, les châtaignes are roasting, and people are busy singing chants de Noël and decorating their sapins de Noël with babioles and sucres d’orge.

If you don’t recognise some of those words, then maybe you should spend some of your free time this December brushing up on your French. And we can think of worse ways to improve your language skills than by learning these French words associated with the holiday period.

Dates

English	French
Christmas Eve	la veille de Noël
Christmas Day	le jour de Noël
New Year’s Eve	le Réveillon de Nouvel an
New Year’s Day	le jour de l'An
Advent	l'Avent
Midnight Mass	la Messe de Minuit
Hanukkah	Hanoukka
The Epiphany	la Fête des Rois / l'Épiphanie

Food

English	French
pheasant	le faisan
turkey	la dinde
gingerbread man	le bonhomme de pain d’épice(s)
candy cane	le sucre d’orge
Yule log	la bûche de noël
Chestnut	la châtaigne / le marron