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Glite Dictionary
French Foreign Office

French Foreign Office

4.7
A government office that deals with France's relations with other countries
  • noun
translation icon : Ministerio de Europa y Asuntos Exteriores
  • The French Foreign Office is responsible for coordinating France's foreign policy.

Examples

  • During the meeting, representatives from the French Foreign Office discussed diplomatic strategies.

  • The French Foreign Office issued a statement regarding international relations on Monday.

  • You know the French Foreign Office called six months ago and launch a complain against your department.

    The Marseille Contract (1974)

Synonyms

Foreign Office
vsFrench Foreign Office
  • UK
6 3.5

A government department that manages relations with other countries especially in the UK

is the French government body specifically for France, not the UK usage
Quai d'Orsay
vsFrench Foreign Office
  • Literature
9.9

The French government office that deals with other countries

is the official government name rather than a street-based nickname

Surface Forms

French Foreign Office singular

Morphology

French + foreign + office

The meaning 'the French government department responsible for foreign affairs' is directly derivable from combining 'French' (relating to France) + 'foreign' (relating to other countries) + 'office' (an official department). This attributive, compositional naming pattern is cross-linguistically common for ministries, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should understand it.

Etymology

The French Foreign Office is a simple picture: an office that works with foreign countries, so think of officials in rooms with maps and letters dealing with matters abroad. So, it means 'the government department that deals with other countries'.