French Terrorism Vocabulary

1 – French Terrorism Vocabulary

1. Le terrorisme = terrorism (watch out for the pronunciation, in English, it sounds like “rezum” at the end. In French, the ee is long so it sounds like “reez me”
2. Un/une terroriste = a terrorist
3. La terreur = terror
4. La peur = fear
5. Avoir peur = to be afraid (watch out, we use “to have” fear in French)
6. La panique = panic

2 – Un attentat = a terrorist attack

1. Une attaque = an attack
2. Une bombe = a bomb
3. Un détonateur = a detonator
4. Une explosion = an explosion
5. Un incendie criminel = a criminal fire
6. Exploser une bombe = to trigger a bomb (proper)
7. Faire sauter une bombe = to trigger a bomb (colloquial)
8. Diffuser une bombe = to defuse a bomb
9. Une alerte à la bombe = a bomb scare/alert
10. Une voiture piégée = a car bomb
11. Un auteur d’attentat-suicide / une bombe humaine / un kamikaze = a suicide bomber

3 – Un otage = an hostage – always masculine, strong liaison in N (un notage)

1. Un prisonnier = a prisoner
2. Un ravisseur = a kidnapper
3. Prendre / exécuter / libérer un otage = to take / kill /free hostages
4. Traquer les terroristes = to track down terrorists
5. Soupçonner quelqu’un = to suspect someone
6. Un suspect (c and t silent) = a suspect

4 – Une arme = a weapon

1. Une arme a feu = a firearm
2. Un revolver, un pistolet = a handgun
3. Une mitrailleuse = a machine gun
4. Une mitraillette = an automatic handgun, a Tommy gun
5. Un fusil = a rifle
6. Une balle = a bullet
7. Tirer sur quelqu’un = to shoot at someone
8. Se faire tirer dessus = to be shot at
9. Tuer quelqu’un = to kill someone
10. Abattre quelqu’un = To intentionally kill someone with a weapon / to strike someone down
11. Abattre un avion = to bring down a plane
12. Blesser quelqu’un = to wound someone
13. Un blessé, une blessée = a wounded man/woman
14. Un mort (t silent) = a dead man
15. Une morte (t pronounced) = a dead woman
16. Un passant innocent = an innocent bystander
17. Dons de sang/dons du sang = blood donation
18. Appel aux dons du sang = (official) request for blood donations

5 – Renforcer la sécurité = to tighten security

1. Un, une témoin = a witness
2. Interroger = to interrogate, to question
3. Un barrage = a road-block
4. Une frontière = a border
5. Fermer/ ouvrir les frontières = close/open up the borders
6. Fouiller = to search for
7. Revendiquer une attaque = to claim responsibility for an attack
8. Etre impliqué dans = to be involved in
9. Une cellule terroriste = a terrorist cell
10. Un réseau = a network

6 – Un extrémiste = an extremist

1. Le fanatisme = fanaticism
2. Au nom de = in the name of
3. La politique = politic
4. La religion = religion
5. La Chrétienté = Christianity
6. Le bouddhisme = buddhism
7. L’Islam = Islam
8. Dieu = God
9. Allah = Allah
10. Un musulman, une musulmane = a Muslim
11. Un chrétien, une chrétienne = a Christian
12. Un juif, une juive = a Jew
13. Un bouddhiste = a Buddhist
14. Une guerre de religion = a religious war
15. Une guerre politique = a political war
16. Le racisme = racism
17. Daesh = Isis/Isil/IS – there might be slight differences but most often, France news will use “Daesh” or Etat islamique (EI)

7 – What Does Fluctuat Nec Mergitur Mean?

“Fluctuat Nec Mergitur” is the motto of the city of Paris and it was featured a lot after the 2015 Terror Paris attacks.

It’s latin, so pronounce each letter and the u like “ou”. The English translation is “floats, not sinks”.

So “Fluctuat Nec Mergitur” means that the city of Paris is like a solid boat: it may be rocked by the waves, it will float and not sink.

8 – Pronunciation of Fluctuat Nec Mergitur with Audio

Well, there are two pronunciations for “Fluctuat Nec Mergitur”… It’s latin, so to pronounce it in Latin, say each letter, the G is hard like Gorilla, and the u is typically pronounced like “ou”, and the R is rolled.

But many French people pronounce it with a French accent .…

So it’s your choice! Click the play buttons below to hear me pronounce “”Fluctuat Nec Mergitur” in Latin and French

9 – Pronunciation of Fluctuat Nec Mergitur with Audio – Latin

10 – Pronunciation of Fluctuat Nec Mergitur with Audio – French

You may also be interested in What Does “Je suis Charlie” means and Vive la France – How to Express Patriotism in French.

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