le siècle

The French word "siècle" translates to "century" in English.

Meaning

• Siècle refers to a period of one hundred years.
• It is commonly used to denote a specific century, often in historical or cultural contexts, e.g., le 19e siècle (the 19th century).

Parts of the word

• The word comes from the Latin "saeculum", which meant "generation" or "age".
• It is a masculine noun in French: un siècle.

Synonyms

• Ère (era) — a longer historical period but sometimes used similarly in historical context.
• Période (period) — a more general term relating to a span of time, not necessarily 100 years.

Antonyms

• Since siècle is a measurement of time, there is no direct antonym, but concepts like:

  • Moment (moment)
  • Instant (instant)
  • Fraction de temps (fraction of time)

  might be considered opposite in scale.

Additional notes

• Figuratively, siècle can be used to emphasize a very long time ("Cela fait un siècle" = "It’s been a century," meaning a very long time).
• It can also appear in expressions like "passer à la postérité pour plusieurs siècles" (to be remembered for several centuries).