While it may not carry the weight of a pronouncement from the Académie Française, France’s Petit Larousse dictionary is one of the heavyweights of chronicling changes in language from year to year, and this year it’s waved in 150 new words for its next edition, which will appear May 21st, with a 2026 date.
Unlike the Académie, which is the French government agency with formal authority over the language—at least in France—Larousse is not completely averse to Anglicisms, and has accepted several of them in the new crop, including ‘le food truck.’ There’s also at least one borrowing from Japanese as well, ‘l’umami.’ There’s also a term for fires that appear to be out but may be smoldering below the surface: ‘feux zombies.’
The dictionary’s editors told press that their work is meant to “reflect the evolution of the French language”, including words that come from different parts of the French-speaking world. In order to be included, new words must meet two standards: they must be ‘shared,’ meaning that use is not limited to a small group or trade, and is ‘widely used.’
Larousse also lists 28,000 proper nouns to help readers identify important places, products and people of the day. Leon Marchand and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, two French champions from the 2024 Olympics are among those added, as are American gymnast Simone Biles and film director Wes Anderson.
