résumé

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See also resume, and resumé

Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From French résumé, past participle of résumer, to summarize, from Latin resumere (“‘to take back’”); compare resume.

[edit] Alternative spellings

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

Singular
résumé

Plural
résumés

résumé (plural résumés)

  1. (North American, Australian) A curriculum vitae; an account of one’s employment history and qualifications (often for presentation to a potential future employer when applying for a job.)
  2. A summary or synopsis.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Usage notes

Usage notes
  • The usage synonymous with summary is rare and can be considered affected.
  • In Canada, resumé is the sole spelling given by the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.
  • In the US, there are three major spellings of this word: résumé, resumé, and resume. All three are in common usage and all three are occasionally contested. The usual justification for each is usually as follows:
  • resume is an acceptable spelling, because modern English does not usually have diacritic marks except when borrowing terms or as an optional spelling to indicate a breach of standard pronunciation rules. Compare cafe, emigre, and nee, all of which are commonly spelled with and without accent marks. The spelling resume is more likely to be found on the web.
  • resumé follows a practice wherein a final e is accented to indicate that it is pronounced where it would usually remain silent. Compare touché, café, and especially saké and maté, where there is no etymological precedent for the accent. The acute accent over the first e, on the other hand, serves no function in English.
  • résumé follows a practice of retaining accents in borrowed words, which some may consider affected. Compare protégé, émigré, née, and élan.
  • Certain other French words with two accented e's have the same usage conflict, though the relative infrequency of the words in common usage causes the conflict to be less pronounced. Also, some spell-checking tools prescribe against resumé, suggesting résumé instead, which may affect the perception of the correctness of the two spellings of the term.

[edit] Translations

summary
curriculum vitae

[edit] Dictionary notes

Dictionary notes
  • American Heritage Dictionary (via answers.com) lists all 3 spelling alternatives in the order: resumé, resume, résumé.
  • Collins Word Exchange lists only résumé.
  • Merriam-Webster Online lists all 3 spelling alternatives in the order: résumé, resume, resumé.
  • MSN Encarta Dictionary lists all 3 spelling alternatives in the order: résumé, resumé, resume.
  • Diccionario Oxford Pocket Edición Latinoamericana lists only resumé.
  • Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (2000) lists only resumé.
  • The Oxford English Dictionary lists résumé with resume as an alternative spelling.
  • Oxford Pocket Chinese Dictionary, English-Chinese (1999) lists only résumé.
  • Genius G3 English-Japanese Dictionary, 3rd edition lists all 3 spelling alternatives in the order: résumé, resumé, resume.

[edit] Quotations

[edit] French

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁe.zy.me/

[edit] Verb

résumé

  1. Past participle of résumer.

[edit] Noun

résumé m. (plural résumés)

  1. summary, résumé

[edit] Derived terms

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