cabotin - a second-rate actor; a strolling player

cafe au lait ~ white coffee

care noir-black coffee

calzoni - breeches; drawers

canaille - the rabble; the populace

carabiniere - (pi. carabineer) an Italian gendarme

carte blanche - full discretionary authorization to act

casus belli - a justification or cause of war

cause celebre – a law suit attracting much attention

causerie – an informal article or talk, especially on a literary subject

caveat emptor - the buyer alone is responsible

chacun a son gout — everyone to his/her own taste

chansons de geste — medieval French epics

chapeau-bras - a three-cornered flat silk hat often carried under the arm.

 

chasse - a liqueur taken after coffee

 

chassee - a gliding step in dancing

 

chef-d’oeuvre - a masterpiece

 

cherchez la femme – there’s a woman at the bottom of it.

 

ci-devant- (of someone’s name or status) former; that has been.

 

cinema-verite, cine-verite – realistic films avoiding artistic caches

 

cloque – a fabric with an irregularly raised surface

 

clou- the point of greatest interest; the chief attraction; the central idea

 

cogito - the philosophical principle establishing the existence of being from the fact of a thing or awareness

 

cognoscente - (pi. cognoscenti) a connoisseur

 

coiffeur – (fern. Coiffeuse) a hairdresser

 

coiffure - a hairstyle

 

comme ci, comme ca - so, middling

 

commedia dell’arte - popular Italian comedy of the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries

 

comme il faut- (of behavior) correct

 

compos mentis – sane

 

compte rendu — a report, statement

 

con amore - zealously

 

condottiere- (pl. condottien) a leader or member of a troop of mercenaries once prevalent in Italy etc

 

confrere - a fellow member of a profession, scientific body, etc.

 

conge - an unceremonious dismissal; leave-taking

 

conte - a short story (as a form of literary composition) ; a medieval narrative tale.

 

convenances - the conventional proprieties

 

conversazione - a social gathering held by a learned or art society

 

coram public – in public

 

cordon sanitaire- a buffer zone

 

cops de ballet - the company of ensemble dancers in a ballet

 

corps d’elite - a select group

 

corps displomatique — a diplomatic corps

 

coup de foudre - love at first sight

 

coup de grace - a finishing stroke, to kill a wounded creature

 

coup de main - a sudden vigorous attack

 

coup de maitre - a master stroke

 

coup d’etat - a violent seizure of power

 

coup d oeil - a comprehensive view

 

court bouillon - stock usually made from wine, vegetables, etc., often used in fish dishes

 

cri de coeur- a heart-felt appeal or protest

 

crime passionnel - a crime, especially murder, provoked by sexual jealously

 

cru - a French vineyard or wine-producing region; the grade of wine produced there

 

cu bono - Who stands to gain? (implying that this person is responsible)

 

cum grano salls - with a pinch of salt

 

curriculum vitae - an account of one’s education, qualification, and previous career