Sacre Coeur

Sacre Coeur has a cognate in it! The very first word in the name looks, sounds, and means the same thing as its English translation. Coeur means heart. Can you figure out what "sacre" means?





Sacre Coeur means "Sacred Heart."

What does Sacre Coeur mean?

In the French language, there are words called "cognates" and words called "faux amis." "Cognate" means "related word." "Faux amis" means "false friends."

When a word is a "cognate," that means it looks, sounds, and means the same thing as its translation in English. For example, "chosir" means "choose." The two words look and sound very similar, and they have the same meaning.

When a word is a "faux amis," that means it looks and sounds like an English word, but it has a completely different meaning. For example, "travailler" looks and sounds like traveling, but it actually means "work!"

Sacre Coeur

Sacre Coeur is a Catholic basilica in Paris, France. A basilica is a large and important church. Sacre Coeur was built from 1875-1914. The church was named after Jesus' sacred heart. There is a large pipe organ inside Sacre Couer.