agrément

See also: agrement

English

Etymology

From French agrément. Doublet of agreement.

Noun

agrément (countable and uncountable, plural agréments)

1. (in the plural, now rare) Pleasant qualities, charms. [from 18th c.]
   • 1793, Frances Burney, Journals and Letters, Penguin, published 2001, page 359:

     There can be nothing imagined more charming, more fascinating than this Colony. Between their Sufferings and their agrémens, they occupy us almost wholly.

   • 1904, William James, letter, 1 January:

     America does not offer the agréments to a tourist which almost any part of Europe offers.

2. (music, in the plural) Grace notes. [from 18th c.]
3. Formal approval given by a state government to a diplomat from another country. [from 19th c.]
   • 1939, Harold Nicolson, Diplomacy:

     It is customary […] to sound a foreign government privately before making a formal application for an agrément.

   • 2016 March 28, Peter Beaumont, The Guardian:

     Under diplomatic protocols, when a new ambassador is proposed if the accepting country does not officially accept the appointment – known as agrément – it is supposed to be understood that the appointment is rejected, the situation in Dayan’s case.

Anagrams

• garmente, netgamer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French agrement. By surface analysis, agréer (“to accept”) +‎ -ment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ɡʁe.mɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

agrément m (plural agréments)

1. congeniality, amenity
2. approval (permission)

Antonyms

• désagrément

Derived terms

• note d’agrément

Further reading

• “agrément”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• égermant, émargent