Squares in Paris - The Word "square"

The Word "square"

In Paris (and, more generally, in France), the English word, "square", has been borrowed to describe a particular type of public space. Specifically, a Parisian "square" is a small urban green space that is not large enough to be called a parc (the grassy variety) or a bois (the woodsy variety), and it is not sufficiently formal in its plantings to be called a jardin. In the English-speaking world, a Parisian "square" might be called a vest-pocket park or, simply, a "green" (as in "the village green").

However, the French use of the word, "square", presents some small problems in interpretation because native speakers of English use the same word to mean a notable urban crossroads (like Times Square in New York) or an urban roundabout (like Trafalgar Square in London), where neither grass nor trees nor flowers are present. Such a public space would be called a place in Paris: as in Place de l'Étoile or Place des Vosges or Place de Clichy. The French use of the word "place", —— where, in the USA, the UK, Canada, etc., an English-speaker would use the word "square", —— follows the pattern established in other European languages: the Spanish use the cognate, "plaza" (like Madrid's Plaza Mayor); the Germans use "platz" (Berlin's Potsdamer Platz); the Italians use "piazza" (Rome's Piazza Navona); etc.

So, in summary, the French have "squares" that might (or, more likely, might not) be called "squares" in English, and they use the word "place" to denote what an anglophone would almost certainly call a "square".