Looking up the French word for the English word, food, I found this:
s. alient, m.; nourriture, f.
What does the “s.” mean? The front of the book says that the “s.” means “substansive”, but what does that mean? The more common choice, when more than one choice is given?
Anyone have a clue?
“Substantive” = “noun.” It’s the designation for the part of speech, which most good dictionaries give. (I believe there are French words which can function as several different part of speech. Contemplate English “well,” which can exist as adverb, adjective, noun, or interjection, and could probably function as a verb, though I’d be repelled by the last.)
Nitpick: if I remember my junior high French classes correctly, “noun” is more properly translated as nom. Checking my old Micro Robert, it appears that un substantif (or possibly substantive — it’s not clear from the entry) is a noun which is not a pronoun (pronom), but all the entries for nouns in said dictionary are labeled “n.” for “nom.” Maybe someone who’s actually spoken French within the last three years could correct me or back me up here.
Oh, and I don’t know if this is a typo in your post or in your dictionary, but it should be aliment, not alient.
Just to mention that “nourriture” is more common than “aliment”. “Aliment” is rather technical. You would use it if you’re writing about food safety or cattle food for instance, while you would refer to the “nourriture” served at the neighboring restaurant.
[QUOTE=PolycarpContemplate English “well,” which can exist as adverb, adjective, noun, or interjection, and could probably function as a verb, though I’d be repelled by the last.)[/QUOTE]
To well up? Not too painful, I trust.
Or even without the “up” [I consider verbs with mandatory prepositions to be distinct verbs for linguistic reasons, stemming from English’s Low German roots)
e.g. “The stench will make tears well in your eyes.”
My Spanish dictionary usually just says “m” or “f” and you’re supposed to assume that means it’s a noun. Any specific difference between French and Spanish that leads to this difference, or is it just that the publishers of my dictionary really wanted to save ink?