Skip to content

flat

flat (music)

adjective FLAT Rare

Origin: From English 'flat', used as a musical term.

Usage Note

Flat is an anglicism for a note lowered by a semitone (the symbol b); the standard French term is bémol, as in si bémol ('B flat'). It appears mainly in informal or anglophone musical contexts and is not used for the general English sense of 'flat' (French uses plat).

Examples

"Joue ce la flat plus doux."

Natural Translation

Play that A flat more softly.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore French by topic