calque
French, noun
calque is spelled C-A-L-Q-U-E (6 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written French, the 32,322nd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Calque is a French masculine noun meaning “tracing (the reproduction of an image made by copying it through translucent paper)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an accent, calqué is a different word: “imitated, copied”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Reproduction obtenue en calquant”.
What does calque mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinetracing (the reproduction of an image made by copying it through translucent paper)
- 2
masculinecalque, loan translation
- 3
masculinelayer
adjective
- 1
imitated, copied
verb
- 1
past participle of calquer
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Reproduction obtenue en calquant. 2. Feuille de papier translucide servant à la reproduction d’un dessin par superposition. 3. Équivalent d'une feuille de papier translucide en dessin traditionnel, permettant de réaliser un dessin numérique par superposition de plusieurs images. 4. Toute production de l’esprit qui n’est que l’imitation servile d’une autre.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of calque
- calques plural
- calquée feminine
- calqués masculine plural
- calquées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to calque
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is calque in French?
calque appears about once in every 1 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).