Beyoncé’s Name Added To ‘Larousse’ French Dictionary
Beyoncé’s name is frequently on Billboard charts, venue marquees, and top news headlines, and now it finds a new home. The singer’s first name has been added to the French dictionary Petit Larousse Illustré for its 2025 edition.
According to PEOPLE, Queen Bey is listed as a proper noun and defined as “American singer of R&B and pop.” Settled on by a jury, more than 150 terms and names were added to the dictionary this year.
Additional celebrities who earned a spot in the book of definitions include LeBron James, Cate Blanchette, and Christopher Nolan.
LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers brings the ball down the court against the Denver Nuggets in the third quarter during game five of the Western Conference First Round Playoffs at Ball Arena on April 29, 2024 in Denver, Colorado.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Larousse’s head of dictionaries and encyclopedias Carine Girac-Marinier explained that the entires “reflect concerns, developments or strong movements this year,” as well as “values of the Petit Larousse — excellence and promotion of French culture,” per Rolling Stone.
Public figures were not the only definitions added to the new edition of the yearly published encyclopedia. Terms including Afro-descendant, masculinisme, mégabassine, and fast-fashion were included in the 2024 update, according to Euronews. Le Petit Larousse 2025 can be purchased later this month.
Earlier this year, the Houston singer’s name took the spotlight during her COWBOY CARTER album rollout. Standing proudly on the cover for a vinyl edition of the record, the mother of three posed in a “Beyincé” sash, featuring the original spelling of her name.
The name Beyoncé’ is her mother, Tina Knowles’, maiden name. According to INSTYLE, multiple individuals in the family have different spellings. The misspellings were not corrected due to racism, according to the mother of two.
“I think me and my brother Skip were the only two that had B-E-Y-O-N-C-E,” detailed Knowles-Lawson. “It’s interesting — and it shows you the times — because we asked my mother when I was grown. I was like, ‘Why is my brother’s name spelled B-E-Y-I-N-C-E? You know, it’s all these different spellings.’ And my mom’s reply to me was like, ‘That’s what they put on your birth certificate.’”
