A French to English (178 entries) glossary of Quaker terms, created by Ed Dommen and digitized by Simon Grant.
Click any of the entries below to view definitions and commentary.
stand aside
oversight
join (the Religious Society of Friends)
affirmation
weighty, seasoned Friend
attender, friend of Friends
Evangelical Friend
isolated Friend
Conservative Friend
visiting Friend (when referring to an official delegate), cf. AMI-E EN VISITE
visiting Friend (when referring to a private individual); cf. AMI-E D’AILLEURS
pastoral Friend
Yearly Meeting
It takes an ‘A’ (cap.) when it refers to a specific geographical entity; it is then a proper noun (Assemblée annuelle de France).
It takes an ‘a’ (l.c.) when it refers to:
- an event; it is then a common noun (‘on se retrouvera à l’assemblée annuelle’)
- a type of institution (‘les assemblées annuelles d’Europe sont de tailles diverses’)
Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM)
Britain Yearly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain
Meeting for business
Women’s Meeting
Representative Meeting
General Meeting; cf. ASSEMBLÉE ANNUELLE
Monthly Meeting; cf. ASSEMBLÉE ANNUELLE
General Meeting, Regional Meeting; cf. ASSEMBLÉE ANNUELLE
General Meeting, Quarterly Meeting; cf. ASSEMBLÉE ANNUELLE
wait upon (e.g. God)
stand aside
clearness
assistant clerk
close the meeting
Friends World Committee for Consultation
En raccourci on emploie ‘Comité mondial’ là où en anglais on dit ‘FWCC’
Ministry & Counsel Committee; Oversight, Worship & Ministry committee; Eldership & Oversight Committee: depending on the Yearly Meeting
Meeting for Sufferings (in Britain YM)
Central Executive Committee (du Comité consultatif mondial des Amis)
Clearness Committee
nominating committee (esp. FWCC), nominations committee. Cf. NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE
concern, cf. CONCERN (EF)
Quaker Council for European Affairs
World Council of Churches (WCC)
En tant que communion chrétienne mondiale, le Comité consultatif mondial des Amis jouit de la qualité de membre associé du Conseil œcuménique des Églises. Cela lui donne le droit de désigner un représentant délégué au Comité central du COE.
Advices & Queries
minute (v)
belief, convincement, conviction
worship (n), Meeting, Meeting for worship
Meeting to give thanks for the grace of God in the life of …
waiting worship
mid-week Meeting
worship sharing
programmed Meeting
Meeting for worship for business
unprogrammed Meeting
unprogrammed Meeting; occasionally it has the sense of a silent meeting in which spoken ministry is banned
application for membership
disownment
join (the Religious Society of Friends)
First Day, Sunday
There is a significant current of English-speaking Friends who refuse to use the names of days and months because of their pagan etymology. They assign ordinal numbers instead. For these Quakers First Day is Sunday; this differs from usual administrative practice according to which Monday is Day 1 (e.g. airline timetables)
leadings of the spirit
divine guidance
First Day School
historic peace Church
in right ordering
in right ordering
Friends Peace Team
divine spark, that of God, that of God within
speak in meeting
programmed Meeting
unprogrammed Meeting
Preparative Meeting (in Britain YM), Meeting (in general)
stand aside
moved to speak
First Month; cf. FIRST DAY
Young Friend
Europe and Middle East Young Friends
joys and sorrows
North American Quakers often end meetings by asking participants if they have any joys and sorrows, that is, an invitation to share prayer requests or events that have marked the lives of particpants.
Journal, journal
J (cap.): title of a work: e.g. George Fox’s or John Woolman’s Journal
j (l.c.) a spiritual exercise
Meeting House
book of discipline
In English as well as French, ‘discipline’ is used in this phrase in a 16th Century French sense, now archaic: ‘instruction, moral guidance, influence’ (Petit Robert)
inner, inward, light; that of God within
Meeting House, Quaker House
Where Quakers have a whole house for their use, it is often given the name ‘Maison quaker’ or ‘Centre quaker’.
marriage after the manner of Friends
attender, friend of Friends
sojourning member
convinced Friend
publisher of Truth
ministry
spoken ministry
silent ministry
spoken ministry
travelling ministry
recorded minister
recorded minister
minute (n)
partly programmed
a moment of (silent) worship, of silence
birthright
membership
Quaker Youth Pilgrimage
moved to speak
practice
Early Friends
presentation of a child
right sharing of world resources
Quakerism
membership
Quietism
Quietist
regional gathering
centred, gathered
Meeting for worship
worship (v), centre down
gathering
release
i.e. pay a person so that they can devote their time to a Quaker cause.
Border Meeting
business meeting
continuing revelation
membership list
Peaceable Kingdom
priesthood of all believers
Holy Experiment
Meeting room
No Cross, No Crown
Titre d’un ouvrage de William Penn
Business session
Yearly Meeting session
Quaker relief
secretary
recording clerk
Europe and Middle East Section (FWCC)
Africa Section (FWCC)
Asia-West Pacific Section (FWCC)
Section of the Americas (FWCC)
as the way opens
sense of the meeting
quiet, silence; cf. MOMENT OF SILENCE
simplicity
Religious Society of Friends
The Valiant 60
release; cf. RÉTRIBUER
attender
testify, witness
bring greetings
Triennial
General Meeting, Quarterly Meeting
Use plain language, speech; thee and thou (v); in French, address a person by ‘tu’ rather than ‘vous’
In 17th century English, the forms thee and thou and you existed, similar to TU and VOUS in French. Early Friends (qv) in the English-speaking world vigorously insisted on addressing everyone by thee and thou, as a testimony (text.1) to the equal value of each person. This tradition could still be found in the 20th century among some Quakers in the United States (however, the verb following would be put into the third person singular rather than the second: e.g. thee is rather than thou art).
Eighteenth century Anglo-Saxon Friends uncompromisingly exported this practice into French: this is undoubtedly one of the reasons why they were considered uncouth in France at the time. In present-day French, the concern for the equal dignity of each person calls for weighing up two sets of considerations: on the one hand to make a statement by using tu on every occasion on the grounds just described, and on the other to respect the susceptibilities of the person being addressed by resorting to the more respectful vous (the biblically-inclined can refer to Corinthians 1 10.31-32 or Romans 14.19-21). French-speaking Friends lean strongly toward the second option; indeed nowadays they tend to tutoyer rather less readily than mainstream Protestants.
In Africa a further reason argues in favour of vous, at least by Europeans (or Whites): White missionaries used to tutoyer Africans immediately as an expression not of equality but of the Africans inferiority, as one automatically says tu to a child. Given that heritage, Europeans are well-advised to use VOUS normally in such a context, and to reserve TU for people with whom they are in fact on particularly familiar terms as individuals.
overseer
truth, unity