#19 What Is the Académie française?｜French Language Column

If you spend time learning about the French language, you will frequently come across the name Académie française.

The Académie française has had a profound influence on the development of the French language. In particular, it plays a central role in discussions about French vocabulary, correct usage, and language standardization.

In this article, I will explain what the Académie française is, what role it plays, and why it remains so important to the French language.

1. What Is the Académie française?

The Académie française is a French academic institution dedicated to protecting and developing the French language.

Its primary mission is to organize French vocabulary and usage while providing guidance on what is considered standard French.

One of its best-known responsibilities is compiling the official French dictionary. The Académie française has long worked to define French vocabulary and provide guidance on its proper usage.

In other words, the Académie française is more than simply a research institution. It also serves as an authority that establishes linguistic standards for the French language.

2. Why Was the Académie française Founded?

The Académie française was founded in 1635 under the leadership of Cardinal Richelieu, one of the most influential political figures in France at the time.

During the seventeenth century, France was becoming increasingly centralized under the monarchy. As political unity grew stronger, the standardization of culture and language also became an important national objective. At the time, numerous regional languages and dialects were spoken throughout France, and Latin remained widely used in official documents.

To strengthen the unity of the kingdom, a common language was needed for administration, literature, and public life. As a result, it became increasingly important to establish consistent standards for French vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and style.

The Académie française was created in response to these needs.

Its mission was to cultivate French as a language that was clear, precise, and refined, while preserving its quality for future generations.

At the time, French was becoming increasingly influential in literature, politics, and diplomacy. The founding of the Académie française marked an important step in establishing French not merely as an everyday language, but as a prestigious language representing the French nation and its culture.

3. The Main Responsibilities of the Académie française

The primary role of the Académie française is to establish standards for the French language while contributing to its development and preservation. Rather than simply studying French, it also provides guidance on what constitutes standard French.

Its main activities include:

• Compiling the official French dictionary
• Defining vocabulary and usage
• Responding to new words and foreign loanwords
• Publishing recommendations on French usage
• Preserving and promoting French language and culture

Among these responsibilities, dictionary compilation is perhaps the most significant. The dictionary does more than define words—it also indicates which words are officially recognized and how they should be used.

Today, many new English words enter French, particularly in fields such as information technology, the Internet, and business. In many cases, English terms are adopted directly into everyday French.

In response, the Académie française often recommends French alternatives whenever possible.

For example, it has promoted “courriel” instead of “e-mail” and “mot-dièse” instead of “hashtag.” Although English-derived words often remain more widely used in everyday speech, the Académie continues to encourage expressions that preserve the distinctive character of French.

The institution also publishes opinions on emerging grammatical constructions, spelling reforms, and new forms of expression that reflect changes in society.

Although these recommendations are not legally binding, they continue to carry considerable influence in education, publishing, and public administration. As a result, the Académie française remains an important authority when discussing standards for the French language.

4. The Members Known as “The Immortals”

The members of the Académie française are traditionally known as “les Immortels,” or “the Immortals.”

This title comes from the Academy’s official motto, “À l’immortalité” (To Immortality), which appears on its seal. The motto reflects the institution’s mission to preserve the French language and French culture for future generations.

For this reason, the members are symbolically regarded as those who help ensure the lasting legacy of the French language.

Membership is limited to forty individuals, and each position is known as a “fauteuil” (seat). Every seat has its own number, and when a seat becomes vacant, a new member is elected specifically to succeed its previous occupant.

Candidates are chosen through an election conducted by the current members of the Academy. Once elected, they officially become members after receiving approval from the President of the French Republic.

Throughout its history, the Academy has elected novelists, poets, philosophers, historians, linguists, politicians, and many other figures who have made significant contributions to the French language and French culture.

Membership is for life. As a result, a new election is held only when an existing member passes away.

This tradition has helped the Académie française maintain both its continuity and its long-standing heritage.

5. The Académie française and Its Dictionary

Among the Academy’s many activities, the compilation of its dictionary is undoubtedly the best known.

This dictionary, known as the “Dictionnaire de l’Académie française,” has been compiled continuously since the seventeenth century. Its purpose is to define the standard vocabulary and usage of the French language.

Most dictionaries aim to describe words and expressions that are widely used in everyday life, explaining their meanings and usage as comprehensively as possible.

The dictionary published by the Académie française, however, has an additional purpose. It also seeks to indicate which forms of expression are considered appropriate in contemporary standard French.

In other words, it is more than a collection of vocabulary. It serves as a guide to what the Academy regards as standard French.

The dictionary is also a continuous project rather than a finished work. As society changes, new words are added, existing definitions are revised, and new editions are gradually published. Editorial work continues today.

At the same time, the Académie française does not adopt new words immediately. Instead, it generally waits to see whether a new term becomes firmly established over time before including it in the dictionary.

As a result, some words that are already common in everyday speech or appear in general-purpose dictionaries may not yet be included in the Academy’s dictionary.

This cautious approach reflects the Academy’s philosophy that its role is not only to record linguistic change, but also to preserve the quality and consistency of the French language.

6. Summary

The Académie française is France’s leading language institution, established to protect and cultivate the French language.

Its principal mission is to organize French vocabulary and usage while providing guidance on what constitutes standard French.

To summarize, the Académie française has the following characteristics:

The Académie française represents a particular way of thinking about language and its role in society.

By learning about the Académie française, you can gain a deeper understanding that French is far more than simply a means of communication—it is a language closely connected to French culture, history, and national identity.