Cassell's Dictionary of French Synonyms Arranged in Groups for the Convenience of English Students

French is without doubt the foreign language most frequently studied in English-speaking countries today, a fact which may be accounted for in several ways. First, the history of France has in past centuries been closely interwoven with that of England, revealing, here, the spirit of unity linking the two nations, there, the misunderstanding or hostility which divided them. As a result the French tongue found its way into England from the Norman invasion onward, remained in use at the Court unti