siècle
/sjɛkl/masculine
The English word 'century' is translated into French as siècle.
siècle is used to refer to a period of 100 years.
Meaning: period of 100 years (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
siècle is a masculine noun, so you should use the masculine articles le or un with it. When writing a specific century, such as the 19th century, use Roman numerals followed by a small e to indicate the ordinal number, as in XIXe siècle.
How do you pronounce it?
/sjɛkl/
Did you know?
- The term le siècle is sometimes used to refer to 'high society' or the worldly, fashionable circles of a city.
- The word siècle is a distant relative of the English word 'secular', as both stem from the same Latin root 'saeculum' referring to a generation or a span of time.
- In a historical or literary context, the phrase le siècle often refers specifically to the 17th century, which is known as le Grand Siècle.
Examples in context
- Il est né au XIXe siècle.He was born in the 19th century.This sentence is useful for stating the century in which someone was born using siècle.Tatoeba #15345 by dominiko, translation #288401 by CK
- Un siècle fait cent années.A century is one hundred years.This sentence is useful for defining the duration of a siècle.Tatoeba #10022 by sysko, translation #73105 by CM
- En quel siècle vivons-nous ?What century do we live in?This sentence is useful for asking which century we are currently living in using siècle.Tatoeba #8698766 by Julien_PDC, translation #11279289 by Lebensfreude
- le dix-neuvième siècleThe 19th century
- 121 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa and Gabriel are visiting a history museum.
- LéaCe tableau date du dix-neuvième siècle.This painting dates from the nineteenth century.
- GabrielC'est un siècle très intéressant.It is a very interesting century.
- LéaL'art de ce siècle est magnifique.The art of this century is magnificent.
- GabrielJe suis d'accord avec toi, Léa.I agree with you, Léa.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “century” translations and entries siècle, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries siècle, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
