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Frances
fem. proper name, from French, from Old French Franceise (Modern French Françoise), fem. of Franceis (see Francis).
Entries linking to Frances
fanny (n.)
"buttocks," 1920, American English, from earlier British meaning "vulva" (1879), perhaps from the name of John Cleland's heroine in the scandalous novel "Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" (1748). The fem. proper name is a diminutive of Frances. The genital sense is still the primary one outside U.S., but is not current in American English, a difference which can have consequences when U.S. TV programs and movies air in Britain.
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Trends of Frances
adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.
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updated on October 10, 2017
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