noun, masculine/mɑ̃.sɔ̃ʒ/plural: mensonges
lie, falsehood
“faire des mensonges gros comme des montagnes” — telling lies as tall as mountains
Synonyms: bobard, carabistouille, menterie, tromperie
Related: mensonge pieux, mensonger, pieux mensonge
Inherited from Middle French mensonge, from Old French mençonge, mençunge, probably from a Vulgar Latin *mentionica, from Late Latin mentiōnem (in the sense of "lie" rather than "mention"), probably formed from haplology of a root *mentītiō, from Latin mentītus, past participle of mentior. Cognate to Occitan messorga, messonja, mensònega; compare also Italian menzogna, Old Galician-Portuguese mensonha, Romansh manzögna and Old French mensoigne, from a different but related root, and Romanian min