Le Havre
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From French Le Havre (“The Harbor”), a 19th-century French clipping of Le Havre-de-Grâce (“The Harbor of Grace”), a combination of its earlier Norman name Hable (“Harbor”) and the short-lived name Ville-de-Grâce, which it bore following its 1517 refounding by Francis I, referencing the supposedly miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary acquired by Cambrai Cathedral in 1450 and known in French as Notre-Dame de Grâce. Nearby Honfleur had similarly named its cathedral (subsequently destroyed by a landslide) in its honor.
Pronunciation edit
Proper noun edit
Le Havre
- A city and major port beside the mouth of the River Seine in Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France.
Synonyms edit
- (historical): Franciscopolis, Ville-de-Grâce, Le Havre-de-Grâce, Le Havre-de-Marat, Havre-Marat
Translations edit
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Anagrams edit
French edit
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /lə avʁ/, /lə ɑvʁ/ (aspirated h)
Audio (file)
Proper noun edit
Usage notes edit
Since "Le Havre" begins with "Le", a definite article, it follows the same rules as the lowercase "le", i.e. if you were to say "I am from Le Havre", it would be "Je viens du Havre", du being a contraction of de and le; or if you were to say "I am going to go to Le Havre", similarly it would be "Je vais aller au Havre". The same rule applies for other towns, for example Le Mans. Curiously, The "de + le = du" and "à + le = au" rules don't apply to surnames, so you say "La politique de Le Pen" as opposed to "La politique du Pen".