An evaluation of French loanwords related to clothing and adornment culture in the latest edition of

The influence of French on the Turkish language increased rapidly following the Tanzimat Edict, in parallel with the widespread adoption of Westernization. French loanwords, mostly introduced through written language, became particularly prevalent in areas such as science, art, literature, daily life, and especially clothing and fashion. In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire came under the strong influence of French culture, to the extent that French was nearly adopted as a second language. Speaking, dressing, and behaving like a French citizen became highly significant. This was largely due to ambassadors and students sent to France, as well as extensive translation efforts. Students returning from France who had adopted French fashion, literary works of the period, and the emerging “shop window culture” in Beyoğlu all played a role in spreading French fashion among the public. Through these channels, numerous French-origin words entered Turkish, including names of clothing items, accessories, cosmetics, tailoring materials and methods, and various fashion-related objects. Although the dominance of French loanwords gradually gave way to English over time, a considerable number of French-origin words, now naturalized into Turkish, are still in common use today. This paper offers a general evaluation of French loanwords related to clothing and adornment culture found in the latest (2023) edition of the Turkish Dictionary published by the Turkish Language Association (TDK), a cornerstone of contemporary Turkish. A total of 375 relevant entries have been identified in the dictionary, and these will be analyzed statistically within four main categories.