# France

Pronunciation: US say "FRANS" /fɹæns/; UK say "FRAHNS" /fɹɑːns/

## Proper noun

1. A country mainly in western Europe, officially the French Republic, with Paris as its capital; sometimes used for its European part alone, as distinct from its overseas territories.
   - Simple: A country in western Europe whose capital is Paris. Sometimes it means only its European part, not its lands overseas.
   - _France shares land borders with Spain, Italy, Germany, and Belgium, among other countries._
   - _After college, she spent a year teaching English in France._

## Other meanings

- (proper noun) The French writer Anatole France, known for his novels, poetry, and journalism.

## Origin

The name reached English from Old French France in the Middle English period, replacing the native Old English Francland, and it goes back to Latin Francia, named after the Francī, a Germanic tribe. Where their name came from is unclear beyond its being Proto-Germanic, but most likely it is Frankish *Frankō ("a Frank"), a word built on Proto-Germanic *frankô ("javelin"), whose further origin is unknown.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/france (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).