gondole

gondola

noun gohn-DOL Rare

Origin: Italian gondola, origin uncertain

Also means

supermarket aisle (shelving unit)

Usage Note

Gondole refers to the flat-bottomed Venetian boat, but in modern French retail it also means the long double-sided shelving unit in a supermarket aisle. La tête de gondole ('end-cap') is the display at the end of a supermarket aisle — a term any French shopper knows. The two senses are easily distinguished by context.

Examples

"Nous avons glissé en gondole sur le Grand Canal."

Natural Translation

We glided in a gondola along the Grand Canal.

Related Words

Explore French by topic

FrenchNow

Avoir or Être? Picking the Right Past-Tense Helper

Use avoir for the passé composé unless the verb is reflexive or one of ~16 DR MRS VANDERTRAMP motion verbs, which take être and force agreement.

June 4, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

French Noun Gender: Rules to Guess Right 80%

Guess French noun gender right 80% of the time using word endings: -age, -ment, -eau are masculine; -tion, -té, -ette are feminine. A high-yield system.

June 3, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

French False Friends: 25 Faux Amis to Avoid

French false friends look like English words but mean something else: actuellement is not actually, sensible means sensitive. Here are 25 faux amis to avoid.

June 3, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

French Greetings: Bonjour, Salut, Coucou Explained

Bonjour, salut, or coucou? Pick the right French greeting every time with a simple two-axis guide to formality and time of day, plus how to say goodbye.

June 4, 2026 5 min read