Published May 3, 2024 • Updated October 3, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier
Lycée meaning
Lycée (m.) is a French noun meaning “high school.” In France, students attend le lycée after le collège (middle school) and generally study there from around ages 15 to 18. The lycée years typically prepare students for the baccalauréat, or bac, before university, further training, or entering the workforce.
Lycée pronunciation
The IPA pronunciation of lycée is /li.se/, which sounds approximately like “lee-say.” A common mistake for beginners is to pronounce the first syllable like “lie-say”; instead, it should sound like “leesay.”
Lycée example sentences
J’ai étudié pendant un an dans un lycée français dans le nord le France.
I studied in a French high school for one year in the north of France.
This next example sentence uses the construction avant de + infinitive, which means “before verb + ing”.
Les jeunes vont au lycée avant d’aller à l’université.
Young people go to high school before going to university.
Marc est un lycéen. Julie est une lycéenne.
Marc is a high school student. Julie is a high school student.
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🔗 French interjections
- l’école (f.) — school
- le collège — middle school
- l’université (f.) — university
- le baccalauréat (le bac) — high school diploma / baccalaureate
- un lycéen / une lycéenne — high school student
- la classe de seconde — 10th grade
- la classe de première — 11th grade
- la classe de terminale — 12th grade
🔗 Related words and expressions
The Modern French masculine noun le lycée (high school) comes from lyceum in Latin, which in turn comes from Λύκειον (lúkeion) in Ancient Greek.
📚 Related lessons
👉 Le collège (middle school) »
👉 School vocabulary (classroom terms) »
👉 School subjects vocabulary »
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