drone
/dʁon/masculine
The French word for 'drone' is drone.
The word refers to an unmanned aircraft.
Meaning: unmanned aircraft (noun)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
drone is a masculine noun.
How do you pronounce it?
/dʁon/
Did you know?
- If you were to use the traditional French word for a humming sound, bourdonnement, it sounds much closer to the original meaning of the English 'drone' than the modern French word drone does.
- When discussing the pilots of these machines, the French often use the term télépilote rather than a direct translation of 'drone pilot'.
- In French technical and military contexts, you may encounter the term appareil sans pilote instead of drone. This describes the object by its function rather than using the Anglicized noun.
Examples in context
- Lorsqu'un drone te repère, t'es foutu.When a drone spots you, you're toast.Tatoeba #13412396 by sacredceltic, translation #13390918 by sacredceltic
- Le char s’est fait larguer un truc depuis un drone.The tank got drone dropped.Tatoeba #11623500 by sacredceltic, translation #11623495 by sacredceltic
- Pour faire court, elle est sur la No Fly List et nous pourrions avoir été suivis jusqu’ici par un drone.Long story short, she’s on the No Fly List and we might have been followed here by drone.Tatoeba #2445201 by gillux, translation #2444468 by fenfang557
- Les journalistes ont utilisé un drone pour filmer la scène de l'accident.The journalists used a drone to film the accident scene.
- J'ai acheté un drone pour m'amuser pendant les vacances.I bought a drone to have fun during the holidays.
Example conversation
Hugo and Chloé are looking at the sky in a park.
- HugoRegarde ce drone dans le ciel.Look at that drone in the sky.
- ChloéC'est un drone très sophistiqué.It is a very sophisticated drone.
- HugoEst-ce qu'il filme la forêt ?Is it filming the forest?
- ChloéJe pense que oui.I think so.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “drone” translations and entries drone, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
