Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·French ·1780s
Nuance
from nuance
- Meaning
- A subtle distinction or shade of meaning.
- Source word
- nuance
- Route into English
- French *nuance* (shade of colour, from *nue*, cloud) → English. The colour-shading sense is still preserved in French painting vocabulary; English uses it almost exclusively as an intellectual metaphor.
- Arrived
- 1780s
From French
Beyond the Norman conquest's Old French foundation, English kept borrowing from French for art, cuisine, fashion, and diplomacy throughout the modern period.
English borrows.
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