Word of the Week…en Français!

franciser /fʁɑ̃.si.ze/ (verb)

To Frenchify. The 17th-century policy by which non-French people (such as indigenous North Americans) were meant to be brought into alignment with French culture. The goal was a total transformation of tribal cultures into French lifestyles and was understood to be for the good of religion and in the service of the King. Sources: Robert Michael Morissey “The Terms of Encounter: Language and Contested Visions of French Colonization in the Illinois Country, 1673-1702” p. 45, in French and Indians in the Heart of North America, 1630-1815 and Wikipedia.