French leave

English Etymology thumb|Two Frenchmen taking leave in Cologne, Germany, 1950 1. en ine-pro *leyp- From en French adjective leave noun 1 endocentric, apparently from a French custom, already recorded in the 18th century, of leaving from receptions or other events without formally announcing one’s departure to the host or hostess.n 1159855696 July 2023 1; n Compare es irse a la francesa and pt sair à francesa (“go in the French manner”) but also the otherwise ubiquitous attribution of this behaviour to the English as with fr filer à l’anglaise leave in the English manner, it filarsela all'inglese, pl wyjść po angielsku, etc. Pronunciation en /fɹɛnt͡ʃ ˈliːv/ RP en /fɹɛnt͡ʃ ˈliv/ GA en En-au-French leave.ogg AU en iːv 2 Noun - en idiomatic informal dated A departure taken quietly and unnoticed, without asking for permission or informing anyone. from mid 18th c. en French exit ; AWOL<q:figurative> disappearing act Irish goodbye II To Mrs. Mary Jones, at Brambleton-hall 226 As for Ditton, after all his courting, and his compliment, he ſtole avvay an Iriſhman's bride, and took a French leave of me and his maſter; en specifically chiefly military euphemistic Desertion or temporary absence from duty or service without permission; absence without leave, AWOL. en William Marvel The Great Task Remaining: The Third Year of Lincoln’s War 2010 10 he may have felt a particular need to mitigate the responsibility of those who shirked their duty, for as he wrote that letter he had just returned from French leave himself. Derived terms en take French leave, en take a French leave obsolete Translations departure taken quietly and unnoticed Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 不辭而別 Finnish: fi liukeneminen, fi häipyminen, fi haihtuminen French: fr filer à l'anglaise take English leave German: dated, may not be understood de französischer Abschied m French farewell; unidiomatic, but now preferable de grußloser Abschied, heimliche Abfahrt etc., de einen Polnischen machen Hungarian: hu angolosan távozik take English leave Italian: it andarsene all'inglese, it filarsela all’inglese Polish: pl wyjście po angielsku n take English leave Portuguese: pt saída à francesa f Russian: ru ухо́д по-англи́йски m take English leave Spanish: es despedida a la francesa f Swedish: sv bondpermission c, colloquially sv bondpermis c desertion or temporary absence from duty or service without permission AWOL See also en by your leave en duck out en slip out en sneak out References Further reading en adjective-noun compound nouns terms derived from toponyms