Quai d'Orsay
Preserved but no longer current.
The quay in Paris running along the left bank of the Seine where are situated the departments of Foreign Affairs and other government offices. The name is applied to the French Foreign Office and sometimes to the French Government as a whole.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Quai d'Orsay” mean?
The quay in Paris running along the left bank of the Seine where are situated the departments of Foreign Affairs and other government offices. The name is applied to the French Foreign Office and sometimes to the French Government as a whole.
Is “Quai d'Orsay” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.