j'accuse
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From French j'accuse (“I accuse”), the title of an 1898 open letter from Emile Zola to the president of France during the Dreyfus Affair.
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
j'accuse (plural j'accuses)
- An accusation, especially one made publicly. [from 19th c.]
- 2009, Jack Balkin, The Guardian (online), 17 Mar 2009:
- It was a rare combination of circumstances that led Cramer to agree to sit still and listen to Stewart engage in his j'accuse.
- 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 369:
- Buried within Dudley's petition, then, was a veiled ‘j'accuse’.
- 2009, Jack Balkin, The Guardian (online), 17 Mar 2009:
Usage notes [edit]
As it is a loanword and not naturalized in English, j'accuse is typically italicized in print.
