What are 10 English words borrowed from French?

When French Sparked the English Vocabulary

It’s no secret that English has a long-standing love affair with French. Over centuries, the two languages have danced in and out of cultural influence, leaving behind a rich trail of borrowed words—especially in fields like science, technology, and the arts.

Take cinema and television—both rooted in French innovation. The word "cinema" comes from the French cinématographe, a term invented by the Lumière brothers, pioneers of motion pictures. Similarly, though “television” has Greek and Latin roots, it was French scientists who helped popularize and refine the concept, embedding the word firmly in English.

Then there’s helicopter, derived from the French hélicoptère, coined in the 19th century from Greek roots meaning "spiral wing." The French also gave us parachute—literally “against a fall”—a term first used by inventor Louis-Sébastien Lenormand in 1783.

In science, French-speaking minds contributed terms we now use daily. Photography was first used in French before crossing into English, describing the revolutionary process of “writing with light.” Words like lactose, lecithin, and chlorophyll were coined by French chemists and botanists, as were hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon—terms developed during the Enlightenment, often by French scientists refining Lavoisier’s groundbreaking work.

Even more obscure terms like bacteriophage (a virus that infects bacteria) and bathyscaphe (a deep-sea submersible) have French origins, highlighting how innovation in French-speaking circles shaped modern vocabulary.

From the skies to the ocean depths, from ancient reptiles like the pterodactyl to prehistoric beasts like the mastodon, French has helped English name the wonders of science and nature. It’s a reminder that language, like discovery, is rarely a solo endeavor.