French word

glacer

Pronunciation

IPA/glase/

Meaning

  • verbfreeze

Example

Le froid glace la rivière.

The cold freezes the river.

Illustration for glacer (freeze)

More examples

Cette histoire m'a glacé le sang.

This story chilled my blood.

Core concept

Water hardens into ice, with the same cold stopping a person in sudden fear.

Common phrases

  • glacer l'eau

    freeze water

  • glacer le sang

    chill the blood

Similar words

geler: To become ice through natural cooling.
congeler: To freeze food in a machine or freezer for storage.
refroidir: To cool something by lowering its temperature.
figer: To suddenly stop movement and make something solid or immobile.

Definition in French

Faire passer un liquide ou un objet à l'état de glace ; au figuré, provoquer une stupeur ou un froid vif.

Word origin

French built glacer from glace, a word inherited through Old French from Latin glacies, the Latin word for ice.

Usage tips

  • English freeze covers both intransitive and transitive uses, but French commonly uses geler for freezing and glacer for making something freeze.

Other meanings

  • horrifyverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word