célébrer

to celebrate

verb say-lay-BRAY Less Common

Origin: Latin 'celebrare' (to frequent, honor)

Usage Note

Célébrer is used for both festive events (célébrer un anniversaire) and religious or ceremonial marking (célébrer une messe). The related noun is célébration and the adjective célèbre means 'famous' — a false-friend trap since English 'celebrate' and 'celebrated/famous' share Latin roots but differ in French.

Examples

"Nous allons célébrer la victoire ce soir."

Natural Translation

We are going to celebrate the victory tonight.

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