Kilo Lingo

/mɔʁ.tɛl/

Line drawing of mortel
Coloured illustration of mortel
#1759 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

deadly, fatal; mortal

Word origin

From Latin mortalis ('subject to death'), from mors, mortis ('death'). English 'mortal', 'mortality' and 'immortal' come from the same root. In very informal French mortel can also mean 'brilliant', or the exact opposite, 'deadly boring'.

Origin
Latin
Root
mortalis
English cognates
mortal, mortality, immortal

Grammar

Femininemortelle
Masc pluralmortels
Fem pluralmortelles

Examples

champignon , .

This mushroom is deadly, do not touch it.

atteinte.

A fatal dose of this medicine is quickly reached.

L' ' .

Fortunately the accident was not fatal.

Tous .

All men are mortal.

, .

The meeting was deadly dull, two hours without a single decision.

Where this fits

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

French · Free printables

mortel: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the French word "mortel" (deadly, fatal; mortal): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

This word is part of lesson 36.