🇫🇷 French foreign ministry 🛣️ A Paris street

Quai d'Orsay

9.9

The French government office that deals with other countries

noun
/keɪ dɔrˈseɪ/

Literature

: Quai d'Orsay

Many important negotiations are conducted at the Quai d'Orsay by government officials.

Examples

I was on duty at the Foreign Ministry, in my old office at the Quai d'Orsay, when an urgent call came in from Tatarstan.

Fiction book (2001)
The Quai d'Orsay has been the center of French diplomacy since the 17th century.
In May 1919, a number of British and American historians found themselves in Paris, in and around the foreign ministry at the Quai d'Orsay, with long stretches of time on their hands.

Academic text (2010)
The Quai d'Orsay is known for its beautiful architecture and historical significance in international relations.

Synonyms

Foreign Office

vsQuai d'Orsay

6 3.5

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

is the Paris street name for that country's foreign ministry

French Foreign Office

vsQuai d'Orsay

4.7

A government office that deals with France's relations with other countries

is the Paris street name commonly used to refer to that department

Surface Forms

Quai d'Orsay singular

Quai d'Orsays plural

Morphology

quai + d'Orsay

The literal locational sense — 'the quay/riverwalk named Orsay' — is directly derivable from 'quai' (walkway beside a river) plus the genitive name element, so learners who know the constituents can infer it refers to a riverside street. However, its frequent metonymic use for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs is idiomatic and not predictable from the parts (and 'd'Orsay' is a proper name unfamiliar to many learners), so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Quai d'Orsay comes from a real Paris street by the river; quai means a street by the river and Orsay is the place name where the Foreign Ministry sits. So, people often use 'the Quai d'Orsay' to mean 'the Foreign Ministry'.