Word.ws English Dictionary

entente cordiale

/ɒnˈtɒnt ˌkɔː(ɹ)diˈɑːl/

entente cordiale noun: a friendly relationship, especially one between parties who might otherwise be adversaries or, at least, wary of one another.

Noun

entente cordiale (plural ententes cordiales)

  1. A friendly relationship, especially one between parties who might otherwise be adversaries or, at least, wary of one another.
    • His Reception and Speech at the City Hall. Entente Cordiale Between the Mayor and the President.1861 February 21, “The Incoming Administration: Mr. Lincoln in New-York”, in New York Times, retrieved 08 Jul 2015
    • Bonaparte's first act after providing lucrative positions for his family was to write another letter, couched in language of a most fraternal nature, to the King of England, asking for peace. "Dear Cousin George," he wrote, ". . . let us restore the entente cordiale and go about our business...1895, John Kendrick Bangs, chapter 9, in Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica

Proper noun capitalized: Entente Cordiale

Entente Cordiale

  1. (collective) A specific set of landmark agreements, signed on April 8, 1904, that resolved a number of long-standing territorial, economic, and strategic points of contention between Britain and France.
    • The tensions of an uneasy peace stressed anew the importance of the 46-year-old Entente Cordiale between France and Britain.1950 March 20, “The Nations: Cordial Visit”, in Time, retrieved 08 Jul 2015

Examples of entente cordiale in a sentence

  • "Dear Cousin George," he wrote, ". . . let us restore the entente cordiale and go about our business without any further scrapping."1895, John Kendrick Bangs, chapter 9, in Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica:
  • [F]ewer and fewer authors are turning from journalism to literature, though the ‘entente cordiale’ between the two professions seems as great as ever.1902, William Dean Howells, “The Man of Letters as a Man of Business”, in Literature and Life:
  • [H]e grew unpleasantly sensitive to a drop in the temperature of the entente cordiale which had thus far obtained between himself and the gambler.1913, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter 10, in The Day of Days:
  • [E]mbarrassment . . . had decided Bryce not to mention the matter of the girl to John Cardigan until the entente cordiale between Pennington and his father could be reestablished.1918, Peter B. Kyne, chapter 24, in The Valley of the Giants:

Forms of entente cordiale

pluralententes cordiales
alternative formentente-cordiale

Origin of entente cordiale

Borrowed from French entente cordiale.

From French Entente cordiale.

Questions about entente cordiale

What does entente cordiale mean?
Entente cordiale means a friendly relationship, especially one between parties who might otherwise be adversaries or, at least, wary of one another.
How do you use entente cordiale in a sentence?
"Dear Cousin George," he wrote, ". . . let us restore the entente cordiale and go about our business without any further scrapping."
What part of speech is entente cordiale?
Entente cordiale can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce entente cordiale?
Entente cordiale is pronounced /ɒnˈtɒnt ˌkɔː(ɹ)diˈɑːl/.
What is the plural of entente cordiale?
The plural of entente cordiale is ententes cordiales.

Words near entente cordiale in the dictionary

  1. entendres
  2. entends
  3. Entenmann
  4. entent
  5. entente
  6. entente cordiale
  7. entente-cordiale
  8. ententes
  9. ententes cordiales
  10. ententes-cordiales
  11. entention

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: entente cordiale (page history and authors); Entente Cordiale (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-JutishMale-Entente Cordiale.wav.

Cite this entry: “entente cordiale.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/entente_cordiale. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.