The English language has borrowed a large number of words and phrases from foreign languages. Here are some of them.
Confidant (French) someone you tell your secrets to
Confidante (French) a woman in whom another confides
Connoisseur (French) someone who knows a lot about something such as art, food or music
Donald is a connoisseur of Renaissance Art.
Consensus (Latin) general agreement
All parties eventually reached a consensus on their demands.
Consortium (Latin) an association, society or group of organisations formed to pursue shared interests
The new aircraft will be built by a European consortium.
Consul (Latin) a government official sent to live in a foreign city to help people from his own country living or staying there
Contagion (Latin) a situation in which a disease is spread by people touching each other
Continuum (Latin) a scale of related things on which each one is only slightly different from the one before
All the orgnisms in an ecosystem are part of an evolutionary continuum.
Contretemps (French) an argument or disagreement
Coquette (French) a flirtatious woman
Cordon (French) a line of police officers, soldiers or vehicles that is put around an area to stop people going there
A cordon of police surrounded Parliament.
Cornea (Latin) the transparent protective covering on the outer surface of your eye
In laser eye surgery, a laser beam corrects vision by reshaping the cornea.
Cornucopia (Latin) a container in the shape of an animal’s horn, full of fruit and flowers, used to represent a time when there are large supplies of food
Corona (Latin) a shining circle of light seen around the sun when the moon passes in front of it in an eclipse
Corps (French) a group in an army with special duties and responsibilities
Cortege (French) a line of people or cars moving along slowly in a funeral
Cosmonaut (Russian) an astronaut from the former Soviet Union
Cosmos (Greek) the cosmos is the whole universe, especially when you think of it as a system
Coup (French) a sudden and sometimes violent attempt by citizens or the army to take control of the government
Haiti’s first elected president was deposed in a violent military coup.
Coup de grace (French) an action or event that ends or destroys something that has gradually been getting weaker
Coup d’etat (French) the overthrowing of a government by the use of force
The rebels staged a coup d’etat but failed to win international recognition.
Courier (French) a person or company that is paid to take packages somewhere
In his youth Francis ranked among the most respected couriers.
Cranium (Latin) the part of your head that is made of bone and covers your brain
Cravat (French) a wide piece of loosely folded material that men wear around their necks
The old actor was wearing a red cravat.
Creche (French) a place where babies are looked after while their parents are at work
Credo (Latin) a formal statement of the beliefs of a particular person, group or religion
American Express is emphasising its ‘the customer is first credo.’
Crescendo (Italian) if a sound or a piece of music rises to a crescendo, it gradually becomes louder until it is very loud
The shouting rose to a deafening crescendo.