arrondissement

noun

ar·​ron·​disse·​ment ə-ˈrän-də-smənt  ˌa-ˌrōⁿ-(ˌ)dē-ˈsmäⁿ 

1

: an administrative district of some large French cities

2

: the largest division of a French department

Examples of arrondissement in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There are 20 arrondissements within Paris, which spiral out like a snail’s shell with one in the center and 20 at the edge. —Eve Chen, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026

On Saturday morning, Paris police officers spotted two suspects carrying a shopping bag near the premises of the Bank of America in the 8th arrondissement of the French capital. —Sylvie Corbet, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026

The building is located in Paris' chic 8th arrondissement, a few streets away from the Champs-Élysées. —CBS News, 28 Mar. 2026

If TikTok is to be believed, CityPharma in Saint-Germain in the 6th arrondissement is the best. —Marisa Meltzer, Vanity Fair, 27 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, "action of making round or rounding off, circumscription of boundaries, extension of a territory, subdivision of a French department," going back to Middle French, "rounding off," from arrondiss-, variant stem of arrondir "to make round, round off" (going back to Old French arondir, from a-, prefix forming transitive verbs — going back to Latin ad- ad- — + -rondir, verbal derivative of reund, rond round entry 1) + -ment -ment

First Known Use

1746, in the meaning defined at sense 2