French leave

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French leave

/fɹɛnt͡ʃ ˈliːv/ UK
/fɹɛnt͡ʃ ˈliv/ US

Rhymes with -iːv

Where it comes from

From French (adjective) + leave (noun), apparently from a French custom, already recorded in the 18th century, of leaving from receptions or other events without formally announcing one’s departure to the host or hostess. Compare Spanish irse a la francesa and Portuguese sair à francesa (“go in the French manner”) but also the otherwise ubiquitous attribution of this behaviour to the English as with French filer à l’anglaise (“leave in the English manner”), Italian filarsela all'inglese, Polish wyjść po angielsku, etc.

noun

dated, idiomatic, informal, uncountable A departure taken quietly and unnoticed, without asking for permission or informing anyone. As for Ditton, after all his courting, and his compliment, he ſtole avvay an Iriſhman's bride, and took a French leave of me and his maſter; […]
Similar: French exit, AWOL, disappearing act, Irish goodbye
dated, euphemistic, idiomatic, informal, specifically, uncountable Desertion or temporary absence from duty or service without permission; absence without leave, AWOL. he may have felt a particular need to mitigate the responsibility of those who shirked their duty, for as he wrote that letter he had just returned from French leave himself.

Translations

Every language

noun departure taken quietly and unnoticed

Español	despedida a la francesa
中文	不辭而別 /不辞而别 bùcí'érbié
Português	saída à francesa
Français	filer à l'anglaise
Deutsch	französischer Abschied, grußloser Abschied, heimliche Abfahrt etc., einen Polnischen machen
Italiano	andarsene all'inglese, filarsela all’inglese
Русский	ухо́д по-англи́йски uxód po-anglíjski

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MLA

"French leave." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/french%20leave. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

French leave. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/french%20leave

Chicago

"French leave." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/french%20leave.

BibTeX

@misc{french_leave_2026,
  title = {French leave},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/french%20leave},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}