French Conversation · Level 112
59 words
French word
veille
Pronunciation
IPA/vɛj/
Meaning
- feminine nounday before
Example
La veille, nous avons fêté son anniversaire.
The day before, we celebrated his birthday.
More examples
Avant de partir, j'ai mis l'ordinateur en veille.
Before leaving, I put the computer into sleep mode.
Core concept
The final stretch before something happens, like a quiet watch held through its previous night or day.
Common phrases
la veille
the day before
la veille de
the day before ___
mettre en veille
put into sleep mode
Similar words
jour d'avant: A colloquial term for the day before an event.
Definition in French
Le jour ou la nuit qui précède un événement, employé pour parler du moment juste avant cet événement.
Word origin
Veille developed from the Old French noun veille, related to veillier and ultimately Latin vigilare, as a watch kept before an event came to denote the time immediately before it.
Usage tips
- French places de after veille before a following noun, as in la veille de l'examen; English usually uses 'the day before the exam' rather than a direct equivalent of this pattern.
Other meanings
- evenoun
- watchnoun
- surveillancenoun
Opposites
- lendemainthe following daynoun
Related words
- veillerwatch oververb
- veilleurwatchmannoun
- surveillermonitorverb