Skip to content

traversée

crossing, passage

noun trah-ver-SAY Rare

Origin: From traverser (to cross)

Usage Note

Traversée refers to the act of crossing a body of water or a stretch of terrain — la traversée de la Manche (the crossing of the English Channel). It is used both literally and figuratively, as in une traversée du désert (a time of being out of favour or in the wilderness, like a politician between mandates).

Examples

"La traversée de l'Atlantique a duré cinq jours."

Natural Translation

The Atlantic crossing took five days.

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